My Succulent Story: Cherish What You Have and Be the Best Version of Yourself

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Thanks to the author [Everything Follows Fate] for theoriginal submissionsharing

Submission date: 2018.05.15

Edited and compiled by: Baike Jun

Location: Shanghai

Originally I had a happy family of three. My beloved wife is virtuous, capable and reasonable, and my daughter is in university, gentle in nature and clever with her hands. However, 4 years ago my wife's leg injury from an accidental fracture did not heal for a long time, and from then on this once strong-willed woman seemed to become a different person, and the whole family fell into confusion... Perhaps it was succulents that brought a bit of life back to our home. I cannot write, and I have no flowery words. I cannot do photography, and I have no exquisite pictures. But I believe that beauty of the soul is true beauty, and the beauty of plants should be natural and pure beauty! The story is long, so please listen as I tell it slowly:

One: The Story of the Jade Plant

On March 18, 2015, at the home of a Buddhist auntie, I saw a tree. It was plump, entirely emerald green, and even blooming with small white flowers. It attracted me at once. The auntie said it was called a jade plant (Crassula ovata), and that she had raised it for 15 years starting from a single small leaf, and that it had bloomed this year. At that moment I decided that one day I would also raise one with my own hands and watch it slowly grow.

The jade plant at the auntie's home

As it happened, on October 25, 2015, the father-in-law of my wife's best friend suddenly suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and became paralyzed on one side, so our family drove over to visit. When we entered and saw 3 jade plants in a corner of his home, completely lifeless, the soil in the pots already cracked and dry, clearly no one had cared for them for a long time. After lunch, I stood there and looked at them for quite a while. The auntie said, "The old man used to like them and raised them for ten years, but now he is sick and no one looks after them anymore, so let them fend for themselves!" I quickly said, "Auntie, let me raise them!" The auntie readily agreed. So her son and I carried two of the pots to the trunk, and just like that they came home with us.

The jade plants at the best friend's mother-in-law's home

A heavy snow in 2016 dealt them an almost fatal blow. Even though we moved them indoors, one of them, shown in picture 2, still froze to death. On September 15, 2017, the one that barely survived was also close to dying. As a last-ditch effort, I cut off ten branch tips and stuck them into pots, leaving the roots in place. In the end, they all survived. I gave two to a neighbor sister, two to my mom, and kept the rest myself. Their vitality now is like that of completely different plants.

The jade plant grown from cuttings

The jade plant today

Two: The Story of the Rat Tail Cactus

On June 07, 2015, I was cleaning the upstairs balcony when a red flower on the windowsill caught my eye. I was overjoyed and ran downstairs to tell the mother and daughter the good news. This must be a good omen! My daughter recalled that this potted plant had been brought back from her little auntie's home in the summer of 2010 (the auntie who owned the jade plant), and it was called a rat tail cactus (Aporocactus flagelliformis). She clearly remembered that that day happened to be her college entrance exam, and later she was admitted to university as she had hoped. Because it was always kept downstairs, my daughter could take care of it a few times when she was on vacation. One day in January 2017, my wife saw that it was half dead and threw it into the trash can. I happened to see it and picked it back up.

The first bloom

On May 17, 2017, it actually bloomed again, this time opening three flowers one after another. I was overjoyed and thought this must be another good omen. Sure enough, that year our "little daughter" was also admitted to university as she had hoped! For so many years, we had truly treated it poorly, yet it showed its value with tenacious vitality. From that moment on, I swore to treat it well and let it live forever... This winter, while moving it into the sunroom, I accidentally knocked over the pot, so I repotted it into a spider plant pot, and it has grown quite a bit larger than before.

The second bloom

On May 9 this year, it bloomed once again. You, the ugliest one, produced the most beautiful flowers! Now this pot of rat tail cactus has been with us for nine years and has brought us much good luck.

The third bloom

Three: The Story of the Agave

2017.10.03. My wife's work partner, like a little sister in daily life, knew that her older sister was depressed because her leg was not doing well. She herself had felt much better after taking up flower growing, so she brought over several pots of flowers. One of them, a hydroponically grown one, was placed in front of the glass door in the living room. At the time I only knew that it needed its water changed once a week in winter and two to three times a week in summer, and I did not know its name. It was not until February of the following year, when my wife saw a popular science article on Baike, that we learned it was called an agave (Agave), also a type of succulent, and that it could be grown hydroponically or in soil. Because changing the water was troublesome, and I do not know how many times I bathed it over eight months, I wanted to switch it to soil. Later, after listening to the advice of friends on WeChat, I decided to continue serving it hydroponically. I was especially happy that I finally owned a "big succulent" too, and I even thought about competing with that expert and surpassing him!

The flowers the little sister brought

The agave learned about from popular science

Hydroponic agave

Four: The Story of the Succulents in the Big Wooden Basin

In April 2017, my wife's leg condition worsened day by day and she had to rest at home. Seeing her depressed every day and losing confidence in life, I also felt at a loss. But life had to go on. In order to rekindle her interests, that was when I truly entered the world of succulents! So on a certain online marketplace I spent 60 yuan on small seedlings of 30 varieties and soil. At first, just to accumulate experience, I did not spend money on pots and planted them all in a wooden basin 70 cm in diameter, which had actually been my mother-in-law's dowry. I planted those succulents according to the online instructions, and two weeks later they had all actually survived. Then I looked up care knowledge, regularly gave them water and sun, and was very attentive. With the arrival of spring, they finally underwent a beautiful transformation!

The mixed succulent arrangement in the wooden basin

Five: The Story of Buying and Buying Succulents

Two weeks later, the large pot of succulents had survived, and I imagined all kinds of beauty as they grew. Once I went to a meeting at the South Gate, and I had long heard there was a succulent market there, so I stopped by on the way home. It covered an area of 20 mu, had seven or eight greenhouses, and the variety of succulents was astonishing. The proprietress received me very warmly. I told her why I was growing succulents, so she picked out easy-to-grow succulents for me and matched them with pots. I bought 30 pots all at once and added her on WeChat. I carefully took notes of what she told me for fear of forgetting. Perhaps a man's attentiveness left a particularly deep impression on her. After I got home, my wife also added the proprietress on WeChat. So many pots were temporarily placed beside the outdoor water pool, and later I found a flower stand. In this way, my wife often followed the proprietress's WeChat moments, and her mood improved quite a bit. As for me, every time I went to the South Gate I would stop by there, buy a few pots, and so far there are already 100 pots!

The proprietress

The first succulents I got

Succulents acquired one after another

Six: The Story of the Mixed Arrangement of Aeonium arboreum 'Zwartkop', Echeveria 'Queen's Crown', and Graptosedum 'Golden Glow'

My wife is upright in character, so she has always been very popular. In September 2017, her best friend suddenly called her and said she had bought succulents for her at a succulent greenhouse and asked the proprietress to deliver them to her home. My wife knew she was generous and repeatedly urged her not to buy large or expensive ones, and if she bought any, to buy small and cheap ones. She also told her not to have them delivered and said she would pick them up herself when she had a chance, since the fare from the South Gate to here was seventy or eighty yuan. She agreed readily.

More than an hour later, the proprietress still delivered them to our home, carrying down one large pot of succulents and several small pots. From the proprietress we learned that even at a 20 percent discount, she had spent nearly 500 yuan. This was the first time my wife met the proprietress. They hit it off at first sight, and after hearing the proprietress's entrepreneurial story, she admired her greatly. Perhaps that was fate. The two of them have now become good friends, and they even agreed that her second child would call her godmother! So, following the proprietress's instructions, we cared for this pot of Aeonium arboreum 'Zwartkop' and got through the cold winter. Now the best friend would no longer recognize that pot of 'Zwartkop'. What she had once called a cabbage had truly become what its name says, Echeveria 'Queen's Crown'! No matter from which angle you look at it, it is beautiful. The five-headed Graptosedum 'Golden Glow' also became nine-headed, and the Sedum multiceps even produced bright little yellow flowers that are especially beautiful.

I had always heard that succulents are sure to die in summer. My wife was afraid that pot of 'Zwartkop' would not make it through the summer, so she had the idea of reselling it, and she actually posted it for resale in her WeChat moments. When I learned of it, I immediately transferred 1000 yuan to her on WeChat and said I had bought it. I told her that the transformation of the 'Zwartkop' could bring us happiness, and can 1000 yuan buy happiness? I believe it will surely get through the hot summer.

Speaking of the 'Zwartkop', there is also a small interlude. In February, while tending it in the sunroom, I accidentally broke off a branch. Later, following the proprietress's guidance, I let it dry for a week and planted it on March 1. Because there was no pot at home and I did not know whether it could be saved, I casually planted it in a spider plant pot. Half a month later I found that it had survived, and a few days after that I also found that it had grown several heads. The first cutting brought me a surprise, and I could not help but marvel at the tenacity of succulents' vitality. With one pot, a little soil, and a little water, they can survive. A few days ago I gave it a new home, with the mother and daughter plants living next door to each other. So these days I have fallen in love with 'Zwartkop', and I even plan to buy several more varieties after autumn begins, so that I can become a major 'Zwartkop' grower!

Seven: The Story of the Little Buddha Set and the Green Aeonium

Previously my mother-in-law was not interested in my growing flowers and plants. Later, after going with me to the greenhouse twice and seeing the world of succulents there, she praised it endlessly and also came to like them. Usually when I go out for meetings, knowing that my wife cannot move them in and out, she has always taken care of them for me. Knowing that there is a lot to do, she has also always followed the weather forecast for me and reminded me in time. This year on Women's Day, I planned to give my mother-in-law a gift. Because she is a Buddhist, I bought her a set of little Buddha pots, also chosen from the proprietress. She knew I was using them to show filial respect to an elder, so she did not even take the money. I keep her generosity in my heart. One of the pots, a red Buddha one, had not established itself for a long time, so I changed its owner to a watermelon ball, and it matched better than the original plant. That extra-large black pot for the green aeonium had originally held a snake plant that the little sister bought. Because I, being diligent, watered it too much, its roots rotted from freezing in winter, and later that big pot was used to plant the green aeonium beside the little Buddha. Now it has taken root and also grown two more heads.

A photo of Mom at the greenhouse

The little Buddha set and the green aeonium

The little red Buddha watermelon ball

The green aeonium in the big black pot

Eight: The Story of the Succulents' New Home

In November 2017, facing the 100 pots of succulents, large and small, at home, I had an idea: I must let them get through the winter safely. After getting my wife's consent, I converted the original garage into a sunroom, which took two weeks and cost 20,000 yuan to complete. This winter the succulents spent a comfortable warm winter inside, with a 100 percent survival rate.

On many restful afternoons, I still lie inside, drink a cup of tea, and enjoy life. At the end of March they were all moved outdoors for full exposure, showing different postures and different kinds of beauty! Start of Summer has passed, and summer has come. Following the proprietress's instructions, I have already given them medicine to prevent trouble before it happens. The shade net and exhaust fan for the sunroom are already prepared. Once it is above 30 degrees, I will move them into the shade house so they can spend the summer safely.

Nine: The Story of Other Flowers and Plants

I used to have the habit of ordering one flower every week to decorate my living room and home. Later I felt it was not cost-effective, so I began growing flowers myself, some in pots and some in the ground: clivia, Chinese roses, carnations, camellias, and so on, with flowers blooming continuously throughout the year.

Some of the fresh flowers

Some potted and ground-planted flowers

Ten: After eight months, the succulents made a magnificent transformation. Sharing some comparison photos.

Debbie

Silver Fingers

Cute Rose

Topsy Turvy

Little Rabbit Mixed Arrangement

Cotyledon papillaris

Baby Fingers

Graptopetalum mendozae

Graptosedum 'Bronze'

Echeveria 'White Lotus'

String of Coins

Sedum adolphi

Lindsay

Echeveria 'Violet Queen'

Echeveria 'Perle von Nurnberg'

Cotyledon orbiculata 'Ping Pong'

Opalina

Bear's Paw

Sedum adolphi 'Sunset'

Crayon

Now, I do not really have any experience to speak of when it comes to growing succulents. I only know that below 5 degrees they should be put indoors, above 30 degrees they should be appropriately shaded, and at other times they can be grown outdoors all day. Water thoroughly after the soil dries out, and ensure ventilation. When problems arise, ask the proprietress. Perhaps plants, like people, all have spirit. As long as you are sincere with them, they will repay you. So they all live vibrantly for my wife, and the proprietress even keeps praising me for growing them well. I also show off in my WeChat moments from time to time.

At present my wife's condition is still not the best, but when she sees the flowers, plants and succulents I grow, so full of vitality, she goes to look at them every day, does functional exercises and physical therapy, and then waits for me to come home from work. I believe she can understand my original intention and my painstaking care. One day, she will return to how she was, just like the tenacious flowers. Now there is still me, and in the future there will still be poetry and distant places. Succulents, I still cannot remember all your names. As long as you are alive, that is enough. Beloved wife, I do not want you to worry about anything. As long as you are by my side, that is enough. Diligence and thrift in managing the household are fine traditions of the Chinese nation, so I do everything I can do myself.

Let everyone get to know me. Those are all my supporting roles: car washer, painter, plumber and electrician, cook, barber... In which one do I look the most handsome? Speaking of barber, that is still my worry, because when friends cut each other's hair, we are only good at short cuts. People who do not know me well might think a short-haired person is a troublemaker, and I even hesitate about whether to grow it longer. But I think you cannot judge a person by appearance. Fellow succulent lovers, do you agree?

Some photos from daily life

If life is a cultivation practice, then growing succulents and studying Buddhism is cultivation of the mind. The Buddha Dharma is supreme. I have already taken refuge in Buddhism, and I respectfully follow my master's teachings: learn filial piety, understand gratitude, treat all beings kindly, walk farther and farther on the Bodhi path, and use my own positive energy and love to light up the people around me. Oh dear, once I start I cannot stop. I will end this submission with the two most precious photos. See you next time!

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