The most beautiful season for succulents has arrived; a chance encounter leaves you hopelessly captivated at first glance

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The article begins:

Thanks to the author [Zuo Zuo Tang Guo] for theoriginal submissionsharing

Submission date: April 10, 2018

Edited and compiled by: Encyclopedia Jun

Location: Yinchuan, Ningxia

The Season of Waiting for You

 Bu Bu Jing Xin Original Soundtrack EP

Liu Shishi 

00:00/04:01

This is the result of a long wait. I fell into the hobby in 2016, when I was strolling along the pedestrian street with a 6-7 month belly and happened upon succulents; I liked them at first glance and became hopelessly hooked. You could say the succulents are only a few months older than my baby! This process has been full of many experiences, from happiness, care, and depression all the way to the ease I feel now...

This first pot is the first Graptoveria 'Gilva' I got when I was heavily pregnant. Because of its perseverance, I gave it a purple clay pot, which counts as a reward! Now it is no longer single like it was back then; what it needs to protect is not itself but the little pups it nurtures. A thumbs-up for the greatness of maternal love, hehe.

Sedum adolphi 'Golden Glow' always reminds me of a line of poetry: two yellow orioles sing in the green willows, a row of white egrets rises into the blue sky. This succulent is ridiculously easy to grow, and its color is also delicate and vivid. I do not know why, but I always think of it as the birth of new life, very much like my little one, in three words: way too tough.

Sedum rubrotinctum, how should I put it? In my memory I have always felt it appeared when I was young. Back then I was little, and when I went to a neighbor's house to play, I happened to see a pot of it there. Its color was emerald green, like green jade scattered all over the pot, which is why I love it so much. I remember I secretly broke off two leaves and put them in my father's Clivia to grow them, but sadly... they did not survive. Now this one is also transforming and becoming a lovely emerald color!

My second veteran, Echeveria runyonii 'Topsy Turvy'. After year after year, it finally has a faint yellow tint. When I bought it, it had two heads; now it has filled the pot and exploded with pups. I am very pleased, and I just want to say to you that my love for you has not diminished since those years.

I am not sure whether this is Strawberry Ice or something from the Moon Shadow line, but ever since its mother rotted from black rot, this separated one has always seemed lonely and alone. I changed it from one pot to another, but it just would not settle in, until last autumn when it finally recovered. Its little mood became reserved and shy, and its slightly red-edged skirt is like the afterglow of sunset in layer upon layer of ripples.

When I got this pot of Bear's Paw, I was in the early stages of depression. I had just given birth, and due to unstable hormone levels I developed mild depression, and I even had thoughts of jumping off a building. What saved me later was not counseling or communication; I think it was the succulents. I feel their cuteness can enter your heart, and their beauty when they change color can melt you. There is also one other succulent that I could never measure with money in this life, and that is my little one.

This Echeveria 'White Phoenix' of mine used to make me think it would never change color, but this year it has been especially competitive. Although it is not as showy as other people's, it has still made steady progress and taken on a slight pink!

I want to describe my Fire Stick with a lyric: "charging through the Nine Provinces with fire and fury." If it is not red, it will stretch; if you behead it, it will pup; when spring comes, it turns red like fire!

Shasha. In my maternal home's Lanzhou dialect, Shasha is a way of calling a girl pretty. Its former black rot has given you your current pink tenderness, and its former frailness has given you your current plumpness and richness. It is clear your trials have been completed. Awesome...

Nana, why do so many people have to be called Nana! From a single head to bursting with pups, from green to colored, you are still you, only now I have to praise you with one line: you are a different kind of fireworks.

"Growing out of the mud yet unstained, rinsed in clear ripples yet not seductive." This lotus is not that lotus; the form is different, but the spirit and charm are similar. The beauty of its pale face and pure color lingers like a melody around the beams for three days without end...

Because I controlled water so strictly, the beautiful flowers that should have been visible at this time were all ruined by me. A million horses are stampeding through my heart. To be honest, when they came to my home last year, if they had thought of this scene, would they have regretted it? Wuwuwu.

Monocerotis, I had always taken it for Echeveria 'Raindrop'... speechless. Later I asked Baidu and only then learned the two are vastly different. Forgive my face-blind identification system; it awaits a version update.

What I love most is nothing other than your pink-purple color, nothing other than your slightly cupped shape, nothing other than your tenderness and sweetness. When I got you, I had already withdrawn from the battlefield to guard my family.

Among the bean-type succulents, you are my second favorite. Why do I like number two? Because at home I rank second, so I also have to place you second. If you rank second, who dares rank first? If you disagree, come fight; that is just how willful I am.

A touch of pale pink smile in the dusty world, seeking Dongyun amid the vast cluster. I took a fancy to it for nothing else but that streak of red, which is very pleasing.

Last year I bought one from Taobao called Pink Tip. I could not understand why it was called that, but seeing this color this year, I finally understand.

Moon Shadow, I think, is everyone's first love favorite! I am no exception either! I am so obsessed with its color. How should I describe it? Like a soft pink that you do not dare touch, and also like jelly, smooth, Q-bouncy. Nothing is more beautiful than the Moon Shadow line.

Echeveria 'Pulidonis' reminds me of "The ornate zither has fifty strings for no reason, each string, each bridge recalls a splendid year" that I studied in high school. A beautiful era has a beautiful color, and it is also the color of youth.

I really cannot remember what these two are called! But they also express youthful vitality through their color.

Pachyveria 'Powder Blue': I remember when I got the first one, it stretched so badly it looked like a dog, so I helplessly discarded it. This is the second one I got last year. I controlled its growth for half a year before it stopped looking like it did back then. It has also given me face.

"Hearing a sound, there is nothing in the water; turning back mid-step, there is a lotus in the pond." This is how it left an impression on me bit by bit.

Is it called this name because it is so fairy-like? For this I even matched you with a beautiful home. As thanks, you must keep producing pups, and do not let me down while you are young!

May you also become famous

When I call you, I get a feeling of being in Tibet. Yangjin, Zhuoma, when I call them, before my eyes I can see blue sky and white clouds, yaks, and the Potala Palace.

These two are the two new expensive ones I got this year. Last year the prices were hyped too high, so I could only wait for the price to drop before getting you. I hope I do not kill them. Although I am no transcendent expert, if they become critically ill, I will be powerless to save them.

This leisurely time is my phase of major succulent reorganization. Since last autumn I have been constantly busy changing soil, mixing soil, trimming roots, and changing pots. Let me share my little experience with everyone here:

My soil mix does not take granular soil as the main component, because succulents in the northwest do not worry about getting through summer; what they worry about is root development. On the basis of using peat soil as the main part, I add granular soil equal to half the amount of peat soil. Peat soil is very good at protecting roots and is also very useful for root growth. I also add some carbendazim and small purple pills to prevent disease in the succulents.

In terms of root trimming, I do not remove all the fine hair roots, because removing all the fine hair roots is like taking away a succulent's legs. With no legs, how can it walk and grow? As long as I remove the blackened hair roots, that is enough. In terms of choosing pots, I want to say to fellow succulent lovers: do not choose porcelain pots, the kind glazed inside and out, because they have poor breathability.

I think pot selection is also different between north and south. Friends in the south can consider red clay pots. Red clay pots are not only breathable but also very effective for controlling roots and preventing stretching, though they look a bit ugly. Using red clay pots in the north is not very suitable, because the north is too dry; if you forget to water for a while, the succulent's roots will collapse. The relationship between roots and pots is also very important. Succulents that all have fine hair roots are suited to earthenware pots and coarse pottery pots, because the roots are thin and dense and need breathability. If the main root is very thick, you can use glazed pots (glazed outside, unglazed inside), because the main root needs a large supply of water.

For Haworthia and similar types, porcelain pots can be used completely, because their main roots are as thick as radishes and they need moisture retention and shade growing. Porcelain pots are more suitable for them than anything else. Next, enjoy the succulents that performed outstandingly, full of harvest and surprises.

There are too many varieties of Peach Egg; as long as you grow a few pots to please the eye, it is enough. Looking at them makes me happy, and my heart is full of harvest.

Butt really is a child I watched grow up, from sowing the seeds to sprouting, to now shedding its skin. It feels like going through pregnancy and childbirth and then early childhood all over again. The years are so peaceful, yet you slowly grow in my eyes.

Attached is a picture of my little one, my priceless treasure. She has grown up together with the succulents. I care for her with my heart, and she watches over the succulents for me with affection, though sometimes she also ruthlessly destroys the flowers once. The spring breeze kisses the willows and all things awaken; color kisses the succulents in brilliant reds.

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This article has beenexclusively authorizedby the author to the WeChat public account: Succulent Plant Encyclopedia (ID: duoroubaike). The article content does not represent the views or stance of the public account.

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