Growing Together with Succulents, Moderate Care Is Just Right

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Thanks to the author [You Dian] for theoriginal submissionsharing

Submission date: 2018-05-22

Edited and compiled by: Encyclopedia Jun

Location: Chaozhou City, Guangdong Province

Getting to know succulents came from a small coincidence.

That day, for some unknown reason, a friend gave me a small potted plant that was red and sturdy. By the way, she introduced it, saying it was truly not easy to grow it so red and so beautiful, so she was giving it to a dear friend. I took it blankly and clumsily, looking it over from every angle, and deep down I strongly hinted to myself, it is beautiful, I must like it, I must treat it well.

So, when I got home, I carefully placed it beside the new favorite Dudu, and it became Dudu's companion.

After some days, I saw the friend again. She kindly asked how the Ruby was growing, and whether it had turned into an Emerald, right? From this, I finally understood that the little potted plant was called Ruby, a member of the succulent group, and when grown to its most beautiful and most affectionate state, it turns red across the whole sky. Actually!

After the revelation, the friend gave me another pot of Berry, a pot of Aeonium, and a pot of Green Bear Paw. It turned out that the succulent world has a great many varieties, each showing its own posture. Fleshy like meat but also like flowers, they only need sunlight to become incomparably brilliant.

To show my enthusiasm for the succulents, and also to live up to my friend's expectations, I added Blue Echeveria, Cabbage, Echeveria pulvinata, Chandelier Plant, Echeveria purpusorum, and some little succulents whose names I could not remember. Several pots of succulents were arranged in order along the edge of the balcony, and a warm, united, and loving family atmosphere was gradually created.

Succulents are naturally emotionless, yet they seem like bewitching enchantresses, making people unable to extricate themselves once they fall into the succulent pit! Real examples around me deeply warn me that the succulent pit is too dangerous, and one must be cautious when entering the pit! So, I always keep the warning in mind, stay rational and clear-headed, and only occasionally bring home succulents. Not blindly, not impulsively, only choose the right ones, not the expensive ones, these are my little principles for getting succulents. Therefore, Purple Delight, White Peony, Peach Egg, Peach Beauty... joined this affectionate little family one after another.

Often at night, I bring over a small stool and sit upright on the balcony beside the succulents, either listening to their whispered talk, or watching them sit alone in meditation, or pinching their fleshy bodies and touching their plump forms. At this time and in this place, the story under the starry sky is quiet and pleasant.

Very soon, summer had passed, and autumn had arrived. Few of the succulents that had endured the scorching summer remained. Peach Egg, Peach Beauty, and Bear Paw, without prior notice and without any warning, one plump little piece after another left the mother plant without any reluctance and fell into the dust and mud. My heart also peeled away piece by piece; it was too heartbreaking a parting. Following that, Blue Echeveria also refused to be outdone and dried up its stems and withered. The Berry turned into a dried-up old man wearing a pointed hat. The Ruby that had transformed into an Emerald was still struggling and fighting with mealybugs. I knew it was unwilling to leave me. Some others had black rot, lost their names, and disappeared without a trace. This was the painful outcome of not doing the homework well yet rushing early into the sea of succulents. I felt somewhat unworthy of the succulent companions that had trusted me and been entrusted to me.

The formerly bustling balcony suddenly seemed a bit deserted. The only ones left that could still hold their ground on the stage were probably the wrinkled all over Black Aeonium in its self-protective state, or else the Ruby that had changed appearance after being harassed by mealybugs.

The more setbacks I suffered, the braver I became, and I brought back Ice Jade, Prism, Money Tree, Graptopetalum paraguayense, Xiuyan, and so on from the succulent market. The addition of new friends filled the late-autumn balcony with a thriving atmosphere everywhere.

When planting Graptopetalum paraguayense, I accidentally knocked off many leaves, so I neatly placed the leaves on the surface of the pot. When little heads emerged one by one from the leaves, a kind of unexpected joy and pride welled up spontaneously.

The success of leaf propagation suddenly made my confidence swell. And after a year of actual practice and the hands-on tutorials around me, it seemed I had gained some understanding of planting and growing. Now I understand how to face the provocation of mealybugs together with the succulents, and I also understand how to place Haworthia in a ventilated and breathable spot that avoids direct sunlight, and I further understand the admirable tenacious willpower of succulents.

So, one pot after another joined the succulent family, densely arranged in rows, and then divided into the main balcony, the secondary balcony, and the secondary-secondary balcony, welcoming the morning glow in the east and rejoicing in the afterglow of the setting sun. A little unrestrained, a little flamboyant, making people greedy and making people run wild. This is the infinite connotation of understated luxury.

In the blink of an eye, it was another May, and the morning sunlight was already quite scorching, but the balcony competing in bloom was so colorful and varied.

Look at the pink adornment of Daruma Fu Niang, the proud and charming bloom of Fei Hua Yu, the coquettish and silly manner of Green Jade Tree. So Black Prince chattered away with sharp tongue and clever teeth, while Fubuki no Matsu Nishiki swallowed clouds and spun silk as it listened quietly, and Graptopetalum paraguayense bent over with laughter!

What a harmonious and beautiful scene. Rising at dawn, lingering and reluctant to leave, yet with a suddenly open and bright state of mind.

Yet although I love their ever-changing forms, I admire even more and am impressed by their life traits of not being delicate and precious and not being pretentious. In the future, I will continue to grow together with them.

I will do my utmost to love and cherish you, but please promise me, let us not fear the burning sun or the wind and rain, let us face the severe heat together, and not a single one of us may fall behind again. It is only four or five months, just hold on.

Let us laugh proudly in the world during the golden autumn season!

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