Succulents heal troubles and bring beauty, making the heart soft yet strong

Foreword

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

Main text begins:

Thanks to the author [Han Ying] for theoriginal submissionsharing

Submission date: June 20, 2018

Edited and compiled by: Encyclopedia Jun

Location: Suzhou City, Anhui Province

Convex

 Transparent

Gigi Leung 

00:00/03:37

Life, when I was completely unprepared, viciously gave me several punches. I took each blow as it came, yet was caught off guard and beaten badly. Bitterness seeped into my heart and spleen, the pain beyond comprehension.

The bitterness of life is different from that of coffee. The bitterness of coffee makes one unable to stop, while the bitterness of life makes one want only to desperately escape.

Some say that sorrow which can be expressed is not true sorrow. Truly unbearable wounds will absolutely never be exposed. Perhaps I had been weak for too long, and had actually forgotten what strength is.

The tree wishes to be still, but the wind will not cease.

Just at this time, succulents entered my life. At the same moment I encountered troubles, I encountered beauty.

This starts with the gift I received last year on Teachers' Day. At the time I knew nothing at all about succulents. Seeing the petite, unnamed ones confined in an airtight glass jar, I thought they surely would not live long. Having no confidence I could keep them alive, I paid them no attention.

Who would have thought that after a harsh winter, not only had they grown a size larger, but they also showed momentum of vigorous growth, their fresh emerald green color delighting the heart. Only then did I start paying attention to these two little things. After searching for information I finally figured out that they were Fire Storm (Crassula capitella 'Campfire') and Graptopetalum paraguayense. And also that they were supposed to be fiery red, yet I had forcibly raised them into a vegetable-colored green, and leggy beyond description. I owed them a wisp of breeze and a meter of sunlight.

No rush, no rush, still alive, which already delights me.

No rush, no rush, one day, after a gorgeous transformation, they will be beautiful for me to see.

At this point, a kind of confidence rose in my heart: "So I can keep them alive after all."

So, before I had even climbed out of the deep pit of baking, I unhesitatingly jumped into the big pit of succulents, willingly drowning in this brilliant sweetness.

On careful thought, all persistence in this world is because of love. To appreciate, to love, to be grateful, every moment.

As a newbie, my succulents are all Cinderellas of the succulent world, some inconspicuous, unspoiled, lowly common varieties. But in my eyes they are all noble and elegant princesses, all with vivid life.

Now, every morning when I wake up, the first thing is to go see them. Watching their quiet, tranquil appearance under the morning sun, my eyes full of tenderness, my heart full of joy, my mood involuntarily brightens along with them.

Completely forgetting what troubles even are~~

I wonder, when was it that I became enchanted by them?

Perhaps, it was the moment I saw the chubby, adorably silly look of the Peach Egg (Graptopetalum amethystinum).

Perhaps, it was the instant I was surprised that succulents can also bloom.

Perhaps, it was the amazement when, after Tia was beheaded, I found it had grown two heads.

Or perhaps, it was from the time when, after the whole spring, the First Love's change in color stunned me.

This picture is still how it looked at the beginning of the year.

This pot of First Love (Echeveria 'First Love'), with just one glance, gave me a feeling of heart palpitations.

But obviously~~ it~ was~ not~ grown~ by~ me~, without comparison, there is no harm. There is a kind of succulent called someone else's succulent.

Winter Beauty (Pachyveria 'Clavifolia'), really looks like a graceful and elegant beauty.

With sufficient light and proper care, Winter Beauty will display a beautiful pale pink in autumn. I look forward to my beauty's gorgeous transformation after enduring this hard summer.

Golden Grass (Sedum japonicum 'Tokyo Sun'), as brilliant as gold. Originally only a tiny bit big, after plenty of water and plenty of sun, it quickly filled the pot.

I remember that as a child what I loved most was this tender yellow and tender green color. But, I don't know from when, I actually found them glaring~~

Some things one doesn't want to change, but times have passed and circumstances changed, and one can never return to the starting point.

Ping Pong Fu Niang (Cotyledon orbiculata 'Ping Pong').

It has not reached the purple-red state, but I feel it is also very beautiful like this.

Fu Niang dropped a few leaves during the pot-adjusting period, which distressed me so much~

Breaking one open to look, it was almost entirely water. Instantly I understood why succulents should be watered less. As subjects of the desert, their water-storage function is as powerful as a camel's hump.

Purple Joy (Echeveria 'Purple Joy').

Purple Joy leaf cuttings.

When I saw the little leaf-cutting seedlings sprouting from the mother leaf and growing bit by bit, do you know how delighted I was? Only afterward, the mother leaf will slowly be consumed entirely. The maternal love of plants is equally great.

The largest little seedling grown from a leaf cutting. It even grew a tiny seedling from its side. An unexpected harvest.

The leaf-cutting team expands, never tiring of it~~

One only needs to lay the leaves on the soil and keep the soil moist. Everything else is left to time. All I need to do is wait and listen. Listen to the sound of branches and leaves unfurling, that is the ultimate music flowing deep in the soul.

Bear's Paw (Cotyledon tomentosa)

What I love most is the green bear's adorable little red claws. So, I no longer care that it is a difficult-to-summer household, a leaf-cutting-sterile household, an active-leaf-dropping household. I love it with all my strength, not believing I cannot move it.

Blue Apple (Echeveria 'Blue Apple')

Thousand Buddha Hands (Sedum pachyphyllum)

Lawrence (Echeveria 'Lawrence')

String of Coins (Crassula perforata)

Millet Star (Crassula 'Tom Thumb')

Snow Claw (Echeveria 'Snow Claw')

Flower Moon Night (Echeveria 'Hana Tsukiyo')

A green green Ruby. You may laugh at me.

Graptopetalum paraguayense

In life there are occasional thorns, but there will also be a road of blooming flowers to see you off. So, why be anxious, time is long. Everything is the best arrangement.

Having confirmed the look in their eyes, this is the little peach grove I want.

Looking at their pink pink selves, my heart is about to melt. I hope I will always have a maiden heart as pink and tender as a Peach Egg. Not necessarily shy and indirect, nor necessarily screaming and hiding back under the covers when it thunders, but rather no matter how many rules of the adult world I understand, no matter how many times I am hurt by this world, when the sun rises the next morning, I am still willing to be curious, to believe, to be grateful, to be a lovable person. If our heart is a garden, which day of life is not the most beautiful flower season?

I look forward to my succulents being able to withstand the summer's rain and blazing sun, and then, through autumn's carving, display the ultimate of beauty.

It is succulents that make my fretful heart full and tranquil. I no longer long for the past, nor extravagantly hope for the future, letting time pass and grasping only the present.

Life is one's own, so one might as well dress it up as enchantingly lovely as possible. In this process, I learned to release, learned to wait, felt the tenacity of vitality, and unknowingly dissolved my pain and stored up strength. My heart, because of this, became soft yet strong.

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! Use the power of plants to influence and heal the people around us!

Appreciate this article

Currently the official account's appreciation function has been adjusted, and the author's WeChat appreciation code is used 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 authorizedby the author to WeChat official account: Succulent Plant Encyclopedia (ID: duoroubaike). The content of the article does not represent the views and stance of the official account! The Encyclopedia has signed with a third-party internet copyright protection company, launching whole-network rights protection. Unauthorized reproduction by other platforms is strictly prohibited! If piracy is discovered, infringement liability will be pursued! Netizens are welcome to report!