70-year-old dad is obsessed with succulents, built a greenhouse and is crazy about growing 100 pots

Gardening friend "Ah Liao Wei Ya Cha Dian Jiu Shi Ge Xian Nyu" (almost a fairy), three years ago, fell into the succulent pit and has been unable to pull herself out since. She currently owns more than 300 pots of succulents and a 50 sq m rooftop greenhouse. And under her subtle influence, not only did her husband become obsessed with succulents, even her 70-year-old dad fell into the succulent pit. Today let's take a look at the story of this "fairy" and her succulent-obsessed dad.

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Dad is 70 years old this year. Other old men his age play chess, go fishing, or do square dancing, but he has no other hobby. His slightly trendier one is - growing succulents, especially obsessive about all kinds of Aeonium.

Every day he squats in the greenhouse watering, fertilizing, doing all kinds of cuttings...

At first I thought he was just playing around out of curiosity, but unexpectedly, in less than half a year, he had great results: more than 100 pots of Aeonium, neatly arranged along the edge of the greenhouse, like a veritable "Aeonium house," and each one bigger and sturdier than the last!

Not only does he grow a lot, the condition of the plants dad grows is also super beautiful!

The other succulents are grown well too. Look at this dense cluster of Lilac Mist (Graptosedum 'Lilac Mist').

This is when the succulents are at their most beautiful.

Why is a 70-year-old man so obsessed with succulents? And why does he grow them so well? This starts with September 2016, when we moved back from Pu'er, Yunnan to our hometown Yuxi.

At that time I had just fallen in love with succulents for over a year, and every day it was buy plants, buy pots, buy soil. My salary all went to buying, buying, buying... So dad was especially opposed to us growing succulents at first. When my husband and I suggested building a greenhouse for the succulents, he also did not agree.

Later, we had no choice but to neatly arrange several hundred pots of succulents on the rooftop. Although dad also cared about the succulents and went up every day to look, reporting back to me which one had grown taller and which one had dropped leaves, he still would not relent on helping us build a greenhouse!

As it turned out, that winter was especially cold and it snowed. A few succulents died, and dad began to feel distressed, and finally agreed to let us build a greenhouse.

Dad worked as a carpenter his whole life, so building a simple greenhouse was no problem at all for him! He dug out his "old buddies," wrote and drew on the ground, and the 50 sq m greenhouse instantly took shape.

Right after that, he ran all over the city's building materials markets, bought the sturdiest and most cost-effective materials, found the workers, and everything was designed and directed by him. Although his right hand is a little disabled, when it comes to working, he is more capable than anyone!

With tight scheduling and extra hours, after 4 days, our glass greenhouse was built.

To make going up and down easier, dad also helped make stairs. No more climbing the water pipe stairs after that.

Watching me happily move pot after pot of succulents into the greenhouse, dad also smiled broadly. Sure enough, the man who loves you most in the world is still your dad!

I don't remember which day it was, but dad suddenly told me he would help build a few in-ground planting beds. I said no need, but he said, "If you won't plant them, I will. I won't buy any, I'll only take cuttings from yours to plant. If they grow well, you keep them; if not, you can sell them."

I thought, let him do as he pleases, as long as he's happy! But this planting turned out to be no small matter. From morning to night he stayed in the greenhouse busily working: pruning, sticking cuttings, potting up... Every day he asked me to buy him pots. He looked down on other pots and wanted to go to the flower market to buy those orchid pots, and also asked my husband to help him buy some online.

When there weren't enough pots, he planted them into the in-ground beds, even digging up his favorite grapevines! Just like that, by constantly taking cuttings, the original few Aeonium slowly became 10 pots, 30 pots, 50 pots... and finally the current 100 pots. Packed full, there is no place left at home to put them.

Every time dad says he won't plant any more, won't plant any more, but every day he still asks me to buy soil and pots, and the number of Aeonium keeps increasing.

Because dad's enthusiasm for growing succulents soared to unprecedented heights, he gradually went to the greenhouse more often than I did, and he didn't even pay much attention to his own private plot. One day he actually told me, "Don't water them randomly anymore. I'll help you water them."

Just as well, it left me free and relaxed. So for more than half a year, he was basically the one helping me manage the succulents, and he grew them even better than I did!

People all say succulents don't like fertilizer, but dad often gave the succulents very rich farmyard manure - chicken manure - spread directly on the surface of the pots. As a result, every one of them was grown plump and large, especially the ones planted in the ground. 3 Aeonium filled a washbasin, as sturdy as corn.

And this Baron, bigger than my hand - no, no, no, it should be called Crazy Baron now.

An Ice Plum (Echeveria 'Ice Plum') that has produced thousands of heads, it should be very beautiful in winter!

Sometimes when there was really no place left to plant them, dad would tell me to take them out and sell them. I said I wouldn't sell them, and he said, "True, such good Aeonium, others won't offer a good price either. We raised them with our own hands, and if someone bought them and couldn't grow them well, that would be a pity."

But a while ago, having nothing to do, he bought himself a second-hand tricycle, painted it, and went out wandering around selling succulents.

Although nobody bought any, he was especially happy inside, especially when others praised him for growing succulents so well.

No matter what, whether growing succulents or selling succulents, as his daughter, I only hope he stays healthy and always helps me care for the flowers until my hair is white too!

This year dad is 70 years old. Seeing the satisfied smile on his face when he busies himself with succulents, I feel very happy. I only wish time would slow down, slower still, hold back his aging pace, and give him more beautiful times!

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