The Big Chop & Spring Blooms

Some of you may have a hideous succulent you would rather hide from prying eyes. Its form so grotesque (due to etiolation) that we may hide it when showing others our plant collections, in fear that they will see that we are not as great with plants after all as we are not giving them what they need the most – some much needed sun.

The picture above is a pot of what I call my ‘monster succulents’.I have thought a few times to just cut the new growth off the parent plant and start over. But over the years, these succulents have really grown on me and have become my most prized plants. They are one of the very fist succulents I purchased when this green obsession began. I love them and their imperfections.  Just a few weeks ago however, I felt my Topsy Turvy needed a fresh start. Every time I looked at it, it was as if it was telling me to let it go. It had given me many pups along its stem and was ‘dying’ for sweet release. So I took a pruning shears to it and gave it a chop. I left it alone for about 2 weeks for it to callous over with the intention of re-potting it. It grew new tiny roots and I must have mishandled it because when I was ready to plant it, the roots had fallen off. The lower leaves were dehydrated and it was losing a few leaves. So I made the decision to truly let it go. But alas, it lives on, on this very page. There was a tiny pup that was grown enough to be on its own and I’m glad I was able to save it and has found its way on my succulent wreath.

Look how many tiny pups have appeared since I chopped off mum. In other news, my other monster succulents are in bloom. They looks quite happy and that has me really excited. The pictures of it above and the ones below are about 2 weeks apart. Here you see the opened blooms. I can’t get over how striking the colours are. The orange and red reminds me of flames.

In a nutshell, I have learned to celebrate my monster succulents because they are unique and if you have monster succulents you should celebrate them too.  Do you have etiolated succulents? Do you let them be or do you start over? Do you show them off or do you hide them?