A town full of succulents, once you go you never want to come back

Text and photos by: Er Mu Hua Hua Nan

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Many people have a dream of planting their courtyard full of succulents,

but for various different reasons, this idea eventually fell through.

But if you come to Carmel-by-the-Sea in California, USA,

this dream life is immediately within reach!

Carmel-by-the-Sea is a seaside town with little rain all year round. To save water, the government encourages residents to plant highly drought-tolerant plants, so here, whether in front of or behind houses, or along the town streets, you can almost always see succulents claiming every nook and corner.

Since the succulents in town are basically used for landscaping, they may not be as refined as the ones we grow at home. After all, in a fully open-air environment, scars or small black spots are completely normal! But at a glance, the succulents here are large in size with thick, fleshy leaves, completely different from our toothpick-sized seedlings!

The town is not particularly large, and it only takes 1 day to walk through it, so here you can completely slow down your pace and properly admire the succulents along the streets.

Whether under big trees or in street-side flower beds, succulents have become the town's most unique scenery. Some are packed tightly together, some stand alone in their own grandeur, making your eyes dazzle, and you wish you could dig them all up and take them home!

Of course, if you accidentally turn into some small corner, you can also spot succulents on the walls. Arranged like this, they really look so beautiful!

If only succulents were planted, how monotonous would that be? Better to pair succulents with other flowers, and with a casual arrangement they become a brilliant scenery!

If you get tired from walking, you can also choose to find a rest area and sit down for a short break. But sitting in a rest area surrounded by Aeoniums, are you sure you can actually sit still?

If these succulents still are not enough for you, then you can only walk from the town to the seaside! See that? These vast stretches by the sea are all succulents!

On sunny days, large patches of succulents bloom, and together with the blue sky, white clouds and the sea, you simply want to live here for a lifetime and never leave!

Of course, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, besides succulents, you can also see herbaceous flowers such as marguerites and geraniums. Because winters here are not cold and summers are not hot, plants that are annual or biennial where we are from not only become perennial in this town, but also have longer flowering periods!

Besides using flower pots, every house here has its rain pipes, windows and porch lights, and all the designs are meant to pair with flowers and plants.

The climbing bougainvillea is utterly wild, with branches basically as thick as a thigh, and at a glance it looks like it has been growing for over a decade. Thinking back to the toothpick-sized seedlings at home, you probably will have to wait until you are old to see any effect!

The most beautiful thing, of course, has to be the town's flower beds! All kinds of different flowers pieced together. Walking along the town streets, you can stop at any time to admire them, and no one cares how long you look.

As you weave through the town's alleys, you discover a flower shop by the road, only to walk in and find it sells old books! The cheapest are only a few cents each, while a single flower outside the bookstore costs several hundred. Here, you completely cannot feel the profit-seeking of merchants; it is all the peace that growing flowers brings to people.

Find any small shop by the road, order a pot of afternoon tea, and while drinking tea, admire all kinds of flowers and plants. The happiest life is probably no more than this!

Besides the central commercial area of Carmel-by-the-Sea, many residents and small courtyards, under their owners' careful tending, each have their own unique style. Although these are private residences, if you want to take photos there is no problem, and the hospitable owners may even wave at you!

If you think your English is good, you can also chat a few words with the owners and exchange gardening experience. In Carmel, everyone is a gardener.

Here, the most delightful thing is naturally each household's wildly different front gate! Although the flowers and plants used are different, every single gate is worth savoring carefully.

The railings are completely covered with white clematis - Montana

Boston ivy was planted according to the ancient big tree, perfectly complementing each other!

A gate with half Boston ivy and half flowering plants!

Of course, there are also various built arches. It seems that if you accidentally push the door open and step in, you will travel into the world of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

In China, everyone is afraid to move flowers and plants outside the door, because perhaps in just 1 short hour,

they will be taken away pot and all, and some people will even jump into the courtyard to steal flowers!

But in Carmel, everyone likes to put flowers outside,

passing this beauty on to others as well.

Why is Carmel so gorgeous?

Perhaps it is because most of the residents here are artists, poets and writers, all gathered here.

It is said that our China's famous master of traditional Chinese painting, Mr. Zhang Daqian, once lived here.

In this lifetime, you must go to Carmel once,

to see those succulents spread across the hills and fields, and feel the influence of its rich cultural atmosphere.

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