If anyone is against you growing succulents and flowers, just fire back like this

Foreword

Follow the Encyclopedia · Meet the Beautiful (WeChat ID: duoroubaike)

The main text begins:

Thanks to the author [Miao Miao Jiang] for theoriginal contributionsharing

Edited and compiled by: Encyclopedia Jun

Location: Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province

Original Green Claw

Is there always someone who says to you: What's the use of growing these? You can't eat them or drink them! They don't even bloom, and they have no fragrance!

There are also people who tell you: They all look pretty much the same, so wouldn't buying just one be enough! Why buy so many!

Golden Wax Echeveria

They'll also say: You're not even this attentive when taking care of your kid, and all day long all you know is fiddling with these!

Original Green Claw

They'll also say: You succulent growers are so arrogant. You clearly have so many, and yet you're not even happy to give away one or two for someone to play with!

Borra

Ice Jade

They'll say it like this: You say this one costs such and such amount of money, so how is it worth that much, can it really be more expensive than a tree!

They'll also say! So young and already growing flowers and plants, living the life of an old person ahead of time!

Some people also say: I heard succulents are too hard to care for, no matter how you grow them, they all end up dying in the end! So why even grow them!

As succulents have spread, moving from niche to mainstream, some new sayings have emerged too: Poor people grow flowers, rich people grow succulents! Only people with money go in for succulents!

Those roadside stall owners who hype them up to the heavens: Succulents, ah, they're the easiest to grow, just one leaf and you can grow a whole big patch!

Black Copper Pot

Some even go further: Do succulents need water? People say succulents like it dry, so don't water them at all!

The Fairy covered in flower stalks

I heard that once you start growing succulents, you get addicted! That's scary! What do addicted people look like?

Have you ever been asked these questions? After hearing so many of these bizarre questions, sometimes I think about just how many misunderstandings succulents bring to the general public? And just how many people have tried to stop you from growing succulents? Is your rebuttal forceful enough? Is your momentum in firing back strong enough?

Around me there are many very successful women or men in their careers! They're busy with work, their luxury cars are expensive! Every day they come and go from all kinds of high-end venues! Do you also feel envious? Just envious!

If there were such a person around you, maybe someone who repairs bicycles, or a supermarket employee, or an ordinary, ordinary person like you and me, but then one day you hear that he once spent months cycling to Tibet! Accomplished something you had never imagined in your own life! You would say: This person's life is not lived in vain! Not just envy!

In this homogenised world, you, I, and he hurry to work, hurry home from work! We see each other's tired looks, bored looks, zoned-out looks, lost looks!

Halloween, controlled-grown for one year

There are many normal people who, seeing succulent lovers chatting, gathered around one or a few succulents, discussing with great enthusiasm, occasionally arguing until red in the face, but in the end, all laughing heartily! This bunch of people isn't normal, right! Yes, we're quite sick! We don't chat about the wide world, we don't discuss the world's battles, just a few pots of succulents, and we can find the joy of life!

Echeveria 'Purple'

Gathered together because of a hobby, there's no need to know his job, his position! And no need to feel constrained and inferior because of status, or to look down on others from on high! What do you mean only young girls grow succulents? Hobbies don't distinguish age or gender, and likewise don't distinguish job or profession! Is a teacher's shining point only on the three-foot podium? Can a doctor only have a medical record in the left hand and a scalpel in the right? Beyond profession, there is life of one's own!

The rose with the cliff-style stem that I especially love

About price! I've never felt that my fondness for a certain variety is because it's expensive or not expensive! Whether I get a small seedling or an old stem, it all depends on my own spending level! Plants have no noble or lowly nature; people often divide them into superior and inferior! Sometimes you see a phenomenon: some succulents, no matter how much money is offered, won't be sold, yet when that one person comes along, they're simply given away! And then someone will say this person isn't normal! Because they know that although it sold for a lot, it might not live more than a few days! And also because they know that although it was given away for free, it will be treated gently! Price is just a comprehensive reflection onto currency of this succulent's age, condition, ease of propagation, popularity, and other characteristics! It doesn't mean a 5-yuan succulent is uglier than a 50-yuan one!

Here I'll complain a bit about the model of many domestic greenhouses! They take 10-yuan succulents, propagate, propagate, and propagate again, turning them into 5-yuan succulents; then take the 5-yuan succulents and propagate, propagate, and propagate again, turning them into 2-yuan succulents, and finally they completely become free gifts! At the same time, they bring in new varieties from outside at high prices, then repeat! And they stand still on the path of striving for perfection and creating new products! What the many aspiring and ambitious greenhouse owners should learn from is the pirate greenhouse owner of the Rose Garden Next to Heaven, who puts full effort into the variety, quality, hybridisation, purification, selection, and cultivation of succulent roses! The exclusively hybridised and purified "Feng Hua Xue Yue" series of roses always make people's mouths water! At the same time, he also created the selected varieties "Feng Ling" and "Long Ying"! The sowing and propagation of large Parma and Golden Parma is equal to saving a variety on the verge of disappearing! Personally, I think this is the correct way to convey the beauty of succulents! Not to devalue but to elevate them!

About varieties! Many people ask me, help me pick a few succulents! The ones you think look good! Sorry, but all my succulents look good, and the more I look at them the better they look! Just like shoes, the one that fits is the best! The one you like is the good one! With tens of thousands of succulent varieties, there's always one you'll like! No matter what variety, the one you like is the right one! Discover her beauty, be willing to appreciate her, care for her, pick a pretty pot, and match her with suitable soil! It's a bit like the feeling of finding a partner, yes! As for the question of buying many of the same variety, there's absolutely no flaw in this, rest assured! It's like eating noodles: plain noodles, Yangchun noodles, pork chop noodles, beef noodles are all noodles, yet each has its own flavour!

Plants cannot be copied, each one has its own destiny with you! And as for variety collectors, the friends who must buy any variety they don't already have! That's even less your fault! Back in the day, buying instant noodles just to collect the cards was a latent psychology of pursuing perfection; this was a seed planted by merchants, and at the same time it reflects a deep inner hope for things to be complete, with no regrets left! However, I'd still advise beginners: the varieties of succulents truly cannot all be bought!

Ebony fasciated stem

To be serious, about care, there's no uniform conclusion! Never mind that our motherland is vast, with huge regional climate differences! In the same city, the east side can have sunrise while the west side has rain! Even different floors in the same residential compound can have big differences! Whether asking for advice or answering questions, don't ask how to grow ebony, how to grow peach eggs! Instead: "My home is on which floor, grown on a fully enclosed/semi-enclosed balcony, direct sunlight/shade, ventilated/not ventilated, how much gritty soil..." That way, people can give you better advice! Use the most suitable hardware setup to match your own care habits!

Absinthe

Some people go too far. China has five thousand years of history, 56 ethnic groups, eight great cuisines, steaming, stir-frying, braising, boiling, deep-frying, pan-frying, and stewing. Can't A Bite of China satisfy your taste buds? You have to deny her existence just because a succulent can't be eaten or drunk! Measuring the value of a thing by appetite is equivalent to a rupture between material civilisation and spiritual civilisation! A person urgently needing to solve food and clothing problems isn't necessarily unable to appreciate flowers and plants; and a person with superior material conditions isn't necessarily able to appreciate the beauty of nature! From Chinese mythology we know that Nüwa created humans, and humans came from mud, belonging to nature; flowers, grasses, and trees all grow from the earth, the same as "originally born from the same root"; humans being close to plants is instinct! So whether you like growing flowers or succulents, it all shows that your true heart still holds a trace of spiritual vitality, cultivating a calm and unperturbed state of mind.

Now let's talk about the fragrance of succulents. Right, succulents also have their own scent! Unlike the boldness of roses, the sweet cloyingness of lilies, the intensity of gardenias, the distant lingering of wintersweet! The fragrance of succulents is like playing hide-and-seek with you; you have to sniff carefully and wait patiently! Laura and Echeveria 'Creamy' are sweet within their fragrance, Blue Beans and Blackberry are sometimes strong and sometimes faint, the scent of Lili is like that eraser from childhood you couldn't bear to use up, the taste of White Frost is that jelly fragrance with the truest flavour, Echeveria 'White Lotus'/'Pink Vine' are also trying hard to let you smell their fresh fragrance, and Ice Plum will tease you a little before letting you catch her scent!

Lili

There's one more thing to say here. Some girls, when imagining their future boyfriend, always attach "gentle, patient, domineering yet careful, artistic and refined..." This is simply describing a guy who grows succulents, isn't it! Someone who cares so meticulously even for a plant, could he not know how to care for people? But then you'll say "A grown man, all day growing flowers and plants, idle with nothing to do..." Pause. Fine, the kind of person you are is the kind of person you'll meet!

Smoking, drinking, staying up late, playing games - if these are what you imagine a normal boyfriend to be like, then you'll meet that kind of person! Besides, growing succulents is not being idle at all: plucking leaves, watering, repotting, killing pests, treating diseases... you're busy beyond belief, with no time at all to go out drinking and gaming! At present, I have one available spot for a succulent-growing guy, right values, tall, girls, don't miss him as you pass by!

As for the point about it being exclusive to the elderly, I think the elderly wouldn't agree! Are your parents still holding the front line at work sharing the economic pressure, or retired at home helping you take care of the kids, or living the old-age life you imagined, doing tai chi and travelling! If so, then it can only be said that your thinking is too old-fashioned; you're no longer suited to old-age thinking, so you'd better stay well in middle age!

Old-age life today is very fashionable: group elderly care, with people who share common hobbies together, and time is at its most beautiful! Many people, while mocking others for "growing flowers" being such a trivial hobby, take a drag on a cigarette and exhale that time away! Others have a small garden coming together, while they get a pile of cigarette packs in return!

On one hand they say they've seen through life and tasted all flavours! On the other hand they push the life they long for onto their later years! You think so highly of your future elderly self, so why can't you treat your present self well! The distant place and poetry are never far away; what's far is the feet unwilling to take the initiative to move closer! I still remember my junior high English teacher's words: "batter later than never"!

Chinese classical literature is vast and profound, and I haven't even touched the surface! I just feel that the phrase "playing with things saps the will" has been applied to the fullest! Not working properly, growing what flowers? Growing what succulents? Keeping what turtles? Keeping what fish? Playing with things saps the will! Well, then there's no need to dig too deeply into such sayings! It proves that the person saying this either lacks ability, putting all their energy into work and still not necessarily being most efficient, and doesn't think that relieving stress and relaxing the mood is more conducive to work! Secondly, although his position is high, his cultivation in life is not high; at the very least he's a person with no zest for life, or in the now widely circulated phrase, his life has no sense of ritual! Personally, I think modern work has more than 3600 lines, but in every line a champion still emerges! Likewise, as long as you "play" expertly, play professionally, play to a level never seen before, play to real achievement, then that also counts as a kind of success!

Red Star Echeveria

The "freebie-seeker" has already been classified by the succulent world as a party of its own, showing how wide its range is, how many people it has, and how frequent the cases are! All kinds of complaints and advice can't hold back the oncoming tide! Many succulent lovers don't dare let friends into their homes, or don't dare post on Moments! Indeed, how can a darling of the heart, a treasure in the palm, be casually given away! Anyone who opens their mouth must feel the relationship is good, so just flip through their Moments; scroll back half a year and you'll pretty much find something they fancy to exchange as a courtesy return! If they only let you see three days, that means the relationship isn't close enough, and there's no need to give! A single horizontal line means you're really not familiar, and giving a gift to a stranger will be seen as having ulterior motives, so you can't give, you can't give!

And as friends receiving the gift, if this succulent comes into your hands, please cherish the person who gave it! Either they're a close friend, or they're preparing to cut ties! If you fall into the pit, please jump in! If you don't fall into the pit, please stay away! On one hand asking asking asking and taking taking taking, on the other hand saying you don't like it and can't grow it well! Do you think I'm a fool, am I really a fool!

Pufu Mist Cold Tower

And what I can least accept is this! Clearly succulents I treat as darlings of my heart and care for every day, feeling the relationship is quite good, I pick out pots and plant them well, and give them to relatives and friends! But the words that reach my ears are not thanks, not gratitude, but all kinds of nitpicking and disdain, and I feel inexplicably disappointed, let down! "It's definitely not a good variety, if it were good they wouldn't bear to give it away", "I don't know how to grow it, anyway it wasn't bought with money, if it dies it dies", "So delicate, still needs watering and sun, why so troublesome, just toss it there and let it fend for itself", "Next time there's a pretty one, go pinch off a bit more"... So frightening, this kind of words and behaviour!

Dang dang dang dang... My little fairy - Mooncake appears

Finally let's talk about the ultimate characteristic of succulents spreading to thousands of households! They really are lazy-person plants, on the premise that you have to understand them. No matter how we've domesticated these horticultural varieties, they can't be separated from nature! Sunlight, water, soil, wind! Are succulents afraid of cold? Afraid of heat? Afraid of sun? Take us humans as an example: when you feel very cold, very hot, or too sun-scorched, the succulents immediately enter their extreme state too! After all, they're far from the suitable environment of their native habitat, and they're in potted soil, not deep in the earth, without the large environment of the earth's surface soil and the circulating root air temperature and humidity! So shading, rain protection, and ventilation are all we can do, to create for them a small artificial environment suitable for getting through summer! So does open-air growing require tinkering? Yes!

Unknown

Unknown green-bodied Dudleya

Someone will say, growing so many flowers? What can they do? In the end, what can they become? I'm dumbfounded with no power to refute! Growing so many can't do anything! In the end they're still succulents! Sometimes I also find it strange: since your sense of purpose is so clear, please tell me what is the purpose of being alive? What happens in the end? Has anyone ever retorted to you: What can smoking do? What are the benefits of smoking? Why is smoking harmful to health yet some people still can't quit!

Because there's always a latent psychological suggestion, at the end of a medical report it always advises: smoke and drink a little! So it led me, who originally hated the taste of alcohol, to force myself to drink a few sips of wine too! As for smoking, my husband won't let me touch it, and I truly haven't mastered the skill of puffing clouds and blowing mist, and haven't gone to learn it, though sometimes I always feel I'd be letting down the doctor's kind suggestion! And if at the end of every medical report the suggestion were changed to: take more walks, come into contact more with beneficial plants and flowers, and stroll through flower markets when free for physical and mental health! Such a slogan would seem more humane!

Can't tell the names apart

As for that question about addiction, my answer is: growing succulents, playing with succulents, mainly requires self-control!

Varieties you already have, don't buy again!

Anything over 50 yuan, no matter how beautiful, don't buy!

The boss says it's a new product, one of a kind, don't buy!

Very unique, rare, naturally clustered old stems, don't buy!

Temporarily not beautiful but especially easy to bring into good condition, don't buy!

Everyone has it, the classic must-have variety for succulent growing, don't buy!

Varieties recommended by the big shots in the local group as suitable for local growing, don't buy!

Succulents carefully grown outdoors by big shots for a long time, don't buy!

Super cost-effective succulents group-bought in the local succulent group, don't buy!

Seasonal super-beautiful succulents being hyped up, don't buy!

Fasciated forms of extremely hard-to-find varieties, don't buy!

Classic succulents that were expensive back then and are now dirt cheap, don't buy!

Already growing a single head and then coming across a cheap large cluster, don't buy!

June, July, August, September, don't buy!

Dudleya, don't buy!

Ebony, don't buy!

Peach Egg, don't buy!

Rose, don't buy!

Aeonium, don't buy!

If you can't manage to follow even a few of the above! Then congratulations, this is truly falling into the pit!

Snow Mountain, controlled-grown for two years

Clustered-flower Dudleya

Actually this article wasn't originally like this. During editing there was an operational error and half was deleted! And my brain froze, so I could only remember bits and pieces! It should have been better!

You've also encountered bizarre questions in the process of growing succulents, right! Say them out and let's all have fun together!

And by the way, happy birthday to my son!

Let's end with a rose basket!

If life has a dream, then realise it bit by bit! Doing a little is far more practical than thinking for a day! If you dream of a sea of flowers, you first have to learn to keep one flower alive!

The culture of succulents needs you and me to promote it! Remember to share good articles more, so more people fall in love with succulents!

Appreciate this article

At present the official account's appreciation function has been adjusted, using the author's WeChat appreciation code instead of the system appreciation. If you wish to appreciate the author, please directly scan the WeChat appreciation code to appreciate the author of this article!

Advertisement ADVERTISEMENT

This article has beenexclusively authorisedby the author to WeChat official account: Succulent Plant Encyclopedia (ID: duoroubaike). The content of the article does not represent the views or stance of the official account! The Encyclopedia has signed with a third-party internet copyright enforcement company and has opened full-network rights protection. Without authorisation, other platforms are strictly prohibited from reprinting privately! If unauthorised reprinting is found, infringement liability will be pursued! Netizens are welcome to report it!