My 70-Year-Old Dad Fell in Love with Succulents and Grew 100 Pots, Even His Daughter Was Shocked

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Dad is 70 years old this year. Other old men at this age play chess, go fishing, or do square dancing, but he has no other hobby. His slightly more trendy one is - growing succulents, and he is especially obsessed with 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 were neatly arranged along the edge of the greenhouse, looking just like a "house of Aeonium," and each one was bigger than the last, each one sturdier than the last!

Not only did he grow a lot, but the condition of the plants Dad grew was also super beautiful!

His other succulents are grown well too. Look at this dense cluster of Lilac Lily.

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 from 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 a little over a year, and every day it was buying plants, buying pots, buying soil. I spent all my salary on 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 did not agree either.

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 at them, and after looking he would report to me which one had grown and which one had dropped leaves, he never gave in 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 heartbroken, and finally agreed to let us build a greenhouse.

Dad had done carpentry his whole life, so building a simple greenhouse was no challenge at all! He dug out his "old buddies," drew and sketched 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 everyone listened to his design and direction. Although his right hand is a bit disabled, when it came to working, he was more capable than anyone!

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

To make it easier to go up and down, Dad also helped build stairs. From then on, we no longer had to climb the water pipe stairs.

Watching me happily carry pot after pot of succulents into the greenhouse, Dad was all smiles too. Sure enough, the man in the world who loves you most is still your dad!

I do not remember which day it was, but Dad suddenly told me to help him build a few raised planting beds. I said there was no need, but he said, "If you will not plant them, I will. I will not buy any, I will only cut your branches to plant. If they grow well, you keep them; if not, you can sell them."

I thought, just let him do as he likes, as long as he is happy! But once he started planting, it became no small matter. From morning to night he stayed in the greenhouse busily working, cutting branches, 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 he also asked my husband to buy some for him online.

When there were not enough pots, he planted them in the raised beds, and he even dug up his favorite grapevines! Just like that, by continuously taking cuttings, the original few Aeonium slowly became 10 pots, 30 pots, 50 pots... and finally 100 pots now. Packed full, there was no place left at home to put them.

Every time Dad said he was not going to plant anymore, not going to plant anymore, but every day he still asked me to buy soil and pots, and the number of Aeonium kept increasing.

Because Dad's enthusiasm for growing succulents was higher than ever, he gradually went to the greenhouse more often than I did, and he did not even pay much attention to his own private plot. One day he actually told me, "Do not water randomly anymore, I will help you water."

Perfect, that 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 do not 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 grew plump and large, especially the ones planted in the ground. 3 Aeonium filled a washbasin, as sturdy as corn.

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

The Ice Plum that burst out thousands of heads should be very beautiful in winter!

Sometimes when there was really no place left to plant, Dad would tell me to take them out and sell them. I said I would not sell them, and he said, "That is true too. Such good Aeonium, others will not offer a good price either. We raised them with our own hands, and if someone else buys them and cannot grow them well, that would be a pity."

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

Although no one bought any, he was especially happy in his heart, especially when others praised him for growing succulents well.

No matter what, whether growing succulents or selling succulents, as a daughter, I only hope he stays healthy and keeps helping me care for the flowers until I too am white-haired!

Dad is 70 years old this year. When I see the satisfied smile on his face while busying himself with succulents, I feel very happy. I only wish time would slow down, and slow down even more, to hold back his pace of aging and give him more beautiful times!