After many suggestions to begin a blog from friends and family, here I am. I've gotten to the point where I can't remember every succulent I have in my balcony garden so I've decided to begin this blog to catalogue and remember what's in my garden and what I'm learning throughout this gardening experience. Recently, my best friend told me that I'm like a plant lady (substitute cat for plant). I embrace this label because gardening and succulents have brought me so much joy in the past couple of years. This past weekend I was asked how I got into succulents. I responded that my journey began when I was young. I always remember being in the garden with my grandmother (or lola in Tagalog). My lola and my family grew various flora, vegetables, and fruits in our garden (zone 9b). I was greeted by crassula ovata (jade plant) as I approached our front door and my mother used aloe vera to condition my hair and soothe my sunburns. At the time, I didn't know they were succulents, nor did I have an interest in growing them. When I made my big move from Southern California to the San Francisco Bay Area (zone 10a) in 2006, I attended a wedding shower and came home with a 2-3 inch bamboo plant, Dracaena braunii as a party favor. Since then, I've watered, propagated, and cared for my braunii and it has grown from a couple inches to 3 feet tall! Dracaena braunii, February 2017 It's not a succulent, but it is the oldest plant in my home. So I must pay homage. Since then, I've cared for and killed plants without much documentation so here I am today -- attempting to bring you along on this journey. While this blog is mainly for me and my future memory, I hope that it can be educational as well. When I first moved to the East Bay in 2011, I brought a crassula ovata cutting home from my mother's garden. The poor thing did not travel well and I was left with a leaf to propagate. Crassula Ovata, August 2015 It lived in my east facing kitchen window and grew to be about almost a foot tall before I accidentally over-watered it in 2016, which caused it to rot and die. So let me just say, not all succulents will survive. I think I watered it twice in one week without realizing that it was still moist. When it comes to watering succulents, they prefer to dry out between waterings (more on succulent care tips in another post).
With more than 5 years experience caring for succulents, I look forward to sharing my knowledge, heartbreaks, lessons, and joy through sacra succulents.
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AuthorHello! I'm Jocyl, a succulent enthusiast living in California (zone 9b). I've been around succulents all my life and I look forward to sharing my succulent journey with you. ArchivesCategories
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