An 8-year-old Graptopetalum paraguayense became an old specimen: A stay-at-home dad raises succulents and kids without missing a beat

Succulent-Loving Stay-at-Home Dad

Interview Episode 3

The succulent-loving stay-at-home dad currently lives in Dehong, Yunnan, with a son and a daughter, and grows succulents.

"The joy of growing succulents is that if you treat them well, they will grow well."

— Succulent-Loving Stay-at-Home Dad

Many gardening enthusiasts say that growing flowers and family life cannot be balanced.

If you put too much thought into growing flowers, it seems to take away time from accompanying your children as they grow up.

If you devote yourself entirely to accompanying your children, you can't bear to give up your own plants.

So the balance keeps swinging back and forth between the two.

But one gardening enthusiast won't accept that!

Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too?

Just look at the succulent-loving stay-at-home dad, who's here to chat with everyone,

about the life of a stay-at-home dad raising succulents in one hand and babies in the other!

The stay-at-home dad's garden is called Lili Garden.

He says it's named that because his wife's name is Lili.

Mm, feels like I just got fed a mouthful of dog food!

And as for where the title "stay-at-home dad" comes from,

because he has two kids at home and plenty of free time,

every time there's a parent-teacher meeting at school, or various other activities, it's basically always him who attends,

and on top of that, he's crazy about growing succulents, so the succulent friends around him gave him the title "stay-at-home dad,"

and unexpectedly, this title has now become his byword.

Succulents on the first floor:

Succulents on the second floor:

Succulents on the third floor:

The stay-at-home dad says that although there are so many succulents at home,

the treasures of the house are absolutely the various old specimens!

Five-year-old Pachyphytum oviferum and Graptopetalum paraguayense, with countless heads, sprawling like an old monster!

A five-year-old Sedum morganianum, which is very laborious to move every time, and he especially worries the leaves will come crashing down!

And the one that's been around the longest should be the 8-year-old Graptopetalum paraguayense old specimen, right?

This old specimen is 1.3 m long, and now it has to be tied up with cloth strips, otherwise it would very easily fall to the ground!

The stay-at-home dad says that besides old specimens, his favorite to grow is Sedum morganianum!

So as soon as you enter the garden gate, the first thing you see is row after row of Sedum morganianum,

and it really does look like they're welcoming guests!

Take a few steps into the garden, and you can see patches of hanging Sedum morganianum,

and under the sun umbrellas, there are also vat after vat of Sedum morganianum!

Other people count their Sedum morganianum by flower pots, but his are counted by large vats,

he really is an expert at growing Sedum morganianum!

Speaking of his original motivation for growing succulents, the stay-at-home dad says,

his love of growing succulents was actually sparked by his wife pulling him into the hobby.

At the very beginning, he was quite opposed to his wife growing succulents.

He always loved to grumble a few words, like wasting money, wasting time...

Unexpectedly, in the end, he himself fell into the hobby!

After falling into the hobby, he realized that growing succulents is not an easy thing.

Many people say that Yunnan is a cheat-mode region for growing succulents,

but the stay-at-home dad waved his hand and said, that's not necessarily true!

The stay-at-home dad is located in the Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Dehong, Yunnan Province,

where the year is divided into dry and rainy seasons, with very heavy rainfall,

and basically from April to November, the succulents at home have no coloration at all,

so growing them is quite a lot of trouble!

In the height of summer, worrying about black rot, he has to set up several sun umbrellas for them,

and for the large succulents, he has to check each one every day and pick off the old leaves,

otherwise in no time they'll get black rot, turn to mush, and die off!

Once he starts talking about his own succulents, the silent stay-at-home dad instantly becomes lively.

Because he knows every single pot of succulents at home like the back of his hand.

The stay-at-home dad says that besides Sedum morganianum, his favorite is the peach egg.

This pot of peach egg counts as the most delicate variety at home, and so far it has already become a five-year-old specimen.

Look at the rows of peach eggs on the shelf, it really gives off a feeling of a ten-mile peach grove!

Cotyledon orbiculata 'Ping Pong' has also been colored up by his water control, but because it's been raining every day recently, it could only be moved from the garden upstairs!

In autumn, the Echeveria 'Thin Makeup' is so beautiful it seems to float with fairy-like grace, looking exactly like a little fairy!

A coral stick grown for a year stretches upward with bared fangs and claws, and in a few years it might even poke up to the roof!

In winter, the orange dream is pink and tender, but once summer passes, its color all disappears!

Getting the same treatment as the orange dream is the pink blue bird.

When colored up, it's as beautiful as a little fairy, but once summer passes, it's all over~

Although it's summer, the green Sedum pachyphyllum still looks lush and verdant.

The fuzzy little white bear hasn't had black rot for a whole year, which is simply a godsend!

The fastest-growing one at home is basically the Sedum clavatum.

It grows into a big pot in about 3 months, and needs repotting several times a year!

The stay-at-home dad says that actually he also has a pot of Echeveria 'Snow Mountain,' which was sent to Kunming for foster care.

He didn't dare bring it home the whole summer, really worried it would get severe black rot at home!

But its condition in foster care looks pretty good though!

Next, let's talk about those big succulents at home, each one looking absolutely satisfying!

The crested Graptoveria 'Drunk Beauty,' the Green Aeonium and the Hime Benikazuki grown into old specimens, simply every one of them makes your mouth water!

But the most enviable thing of all,

is still those succulents at the stay-at-home dad's home grown in large vats!

If there were a chance, I'd really want to carry a pot home!

Someone might ask, the stay-at-home dad takes care of the kids every day, does he really still have extra energy to grow flowers?

Of course he does!

Because he loves horticulture, his current job is also related to horticulture.

For example, building gardens for clients, doing later maintenance and planting flowers...

He has plenty of time to delve into growing flowers, without delaying taking care of the kids,

completely without missing either one!

And under the stay-at-home dad's influence,

the little kids at home have also developed a strong interest in growing succulents.

The stay-at-home dad says he spent 3 years growing a pot of Echeveria 'Rainbow,' which he gave to his daughter as a gift.

A little girl should really like the gorgeous colors of the rainbow.

And this Peach Blossom we see now, with nearly 50 flower heads,

was personally chosen together with the little man of the house at a succulent base.

The stay-at-home dad says that whether day or night, especially when it thunders late at night,

he will definitely get up to go take a look at these succulents.

Perhaps this is the joy of growing succulents,

if you treat them well, they will grow well.

May the stay-at-home dad's garden continue to flourish with flowers in the future,

and may every person who loves growing flowers find their own joy!

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