Leslie Thomas is proof a brown thumb can turn green.

The former high school science teacher loved plants, but, well, they didn’t love her back. Turns out she was just picking the wrong botany buddies.

About three years ago, she discovered succulents, plants with thick, fleshy leaves or stems that store water and require very little maintenance.

Now, Thomas is the owner of The Seaside Succulent, a business that's all about sharing the joy of these trouble-free plants.

She was initially drawn to succulents because they looked like flowers. She brought several home and planted them in her front garden.

The Melbourne resident was teaching marine science at Satellite High School at the time. Work, and life in general, happened. Watering didn't.

That’s because the plants can go a couple of weeks, or even a month, without a drink. They cover a broad spectrum of plants. Cacti are succulents, according to diynetwork.com, though not all succulents are cacti.

Many succulents love the heat, others arent afraid of the cold. 

Jade plants, aloe vera, prickly pear, century plants: They're all succulents.

"I started amassing quite the collection," Thomas said. "They spread from the front garden to the back patio."

The plants filled chair seats and tabletops.

"My husband asked what I was going to do with them," she said. 

She did what any modern woman faced with such a question would; she turned to Pinterest for inspiration.

She made a succulent wreath, and an idea sprouted.

Now she arranges succulents on driftwood and atop pumpkins. She attaches them to grapevine trees and turns them into wearable art.

In January 2017, she started The Seaside Succulent. In May that year, she booked a space in the Cocoa Village craft fair and sold her creations. She opened a shop on Etsy.

When she saw Rockledge Gardens, a Central Brevard plant and home center, offered various garden-related classes, she looked into that and now teaches succulent workshops there once a month.

She also offered workshops at the Barrier Island Center in Melbourne.

Last fall, she was juggling her teaching job and her succulent projects when her mother died.

As she mourned, she stopped doing workshops, she stopped planting. 

With spring approaching, she returned to Rockledge Gardens for a workshop. 

"The passion for plants came back to me,” she said.

During that time of renewal, she realized she'd grown The Seaside Succulent as far as she could while working full time as a science teacher. 

In May, she gave notice at the high school and decided to take her new business full-time.

She chuckles thinking about what a good sport her husband, Tanner, has been.

"He thought there were a lot of succulents on the porch then," she said, noting she’s now surrounded by plump, colorful plants.

In addition to workshops across the county, Thomas hosts private parties and events. Looking for an interactive bridal shower idea? Thomas helped one bride and her bridal party create succulent centerpieces for the wedding.

She's done corporate team-building events and home school classes. 

Jackie Sampson and Erika Wollard of Pompano Grill in Cocoa Beach brought her in recently for a wine and food tasting event, with each guest making a wine bottle succulent garden.

Succulents also make great corsages and boutonnieres for homecoming and prom, Thomas said.

She has a greenhouse in her backyard with cuttings, but the bulk of her succulents come from wholesale nurseries in Apopka. She travels there most Mondays to shop for the week's events.

"I want to keep them fresh for everybody," she said.

Between the plants and the supplies — grapevine wreaths, cut-in-half wine bottles, cactus potting soil, moss — she and Tanner are running out of space.

"Luckily we have a big carport that we don't park in anymore," she said, "and a patio in the back that's no longer for sitting and relaxing."

She's thinking she might need a bigger car.

And she couldn't be happier.

Leslie Thomas of The Seaside Succulent offers these tips when caring for succulents:

Leave them alone. People who are good with other types of plants often give succulents too much attention. "Succulents really don't want that. They're used to harsh conditions.”

Water them. Soak the soil, then let excess water drain away. "They like a good drink of water, then let them dry out over the next couple of weeks," she said.

Don't over-water. Succulents falling apart? That's a sign of too much water.

But don't under-water. If the plump, firm leaves are starting to shrivel, the plant needs water.

Learn more about The Seaside Succulent at theseasidesucculent.com, @theseasidesucculent on Instagram or Etsy.com/shop/theseasidesucculent.