The current wave of low temperatures that have surprised us these days is a real test for the succulents that live with me. Or I just thought so. Two days ago, on Tuesday morning, I looked at the weather forecast on my phone. I almost couldn't believe it because, in all the years that I have lived in this country, this is the first time I have seen temperatures below zero. The early morning temperatures ranged between minus two degrees Celsius and zero. Wednesday morning was a bit better, the scale marked minus one degree Celsius, but it felt like minus four. My poor plants... I thought.
When I realized that this place where I moved (and my plants too) a few months ago would not have those mild temperatures we had by the sea, I thought about bringing inside some of the plants during the winter. For example, I moved the big Aeonium into the living room for a few weeks but it started losing its leaves.
Every day I picked up so many withered and fallen leaves around the pot that I thought it would stay just with naked stems. It definitely didn't like to live inside so I let it again be in the fresh air with the other ones. To my surprise, it stopped losing its leaves after just one day of being outside on the balcony. Happy plant again! 😀
Ok, so they like living there despite the lower temperatures. 🤷♀ Moreover, some of them happily started to bloom, even though it took some time. It was late November when I noticed these hidden flower buds on Jade Tree and Lucky Bells.
Almost two months later here they are, blooming! :))
Let's get closer to see better these cute little white stars.
Here we are at the next life challenge these succulents are going through. Do you see the multitude of little black bugs on these little flowers in the next photo? Even though I sprayed them with nettle extract as an eco-friendly alternative to some stronger products, the hungry tenants didn't seem to mind.
They are still there, in the same number or it even seems to me that there are more and more of them as time goes by and the plant blooms. They all gathered around the fragile flowers and not around the thick, fleshy leaves because it is harder for these bugs to suck the juices from them.
Lucky Bells can call themselves lucky - at the moment, they are free from those little guys that attacked the Jade Tree. Let's hope it stays this way.
