Have you always wanted to visit Venice?
Wouldn't it be even more interesting to travel back in time and visit 19th century Venice?
You can do so through this wonderful collection of photographs.
Welcome! Joie de Vivre Magazine (JDV) is a freestyle blog and presents content covering varied topics, e.g. art, psychology, culture, science, education, history, entertainment, and opinion pieces; along with curated content from around the web. Interesting, informative, entertaining, fascinating and fun! Experience my joie de vivre. Please visit often!

Succulents are plants that store extra water in their leaves, stems, or roots, allowing them to survive in dry or unpredictable climates. They come in many forms—from tiny stone-like Lithops to towering baobab trees—and make up roughly 3–5% of all flowering plants. Their defining trait is water storage, which lets them thrive in environments where many other plants cannot. (REF: British Cactus and Succulent Society)
Short answer: They can be—but it depends on how they’re grown, sourced, and used.
Below is a breakdown of the environmental benefits and concerns, based on current research.
Water efficiency
Succulents use far less water than traditional garden plants. Some need only 1–2 ounces per week, compared to several gallons for other species. This makes them excellent for drought-prone regions and water conservation efforts. (REF: shunwaste.com)
Climate resilience
Their drought tolerance and ability to store water make them valuable models for adapting agriculture and landscaping to climate change. They can help maintain greenery in increasingly arid environments. In other words, they can be very eco-friendly. (REF: cactusandsucculents.co.uk)
Ecosystem support
In their native habitats, succulents provide food, shelter, and water for animals, especially in deserts where resources are scarce. Their fruits help with seed dispersal and support biodiversity. (REF: cactusandsucculents.co.uk)
Overharvesting and habitat loss
Some succulents—especially rare cacti—are illegally collected from the wild, threatening species already at risk of extinction. (REF: Oxford Academic)
Carbon footprint from global trade
The booming popularity of succulents means many are shipped long distances, increasing carbon emissions. (REF: shunwaste.com)
Invasive potential
Certain succulents can become invasive when introduced outside their native range, disrupting local ecosystems. (REF: New Phytologist)
Soil degradation
Overharvesting wild plants can damage fragile soils and lead to erosion. (REF: shunwaste.com)
They are environmentally friendly when:
They are harmful when:
Succulents are adaptation champions, but like any trend, sustainability depends on responsible choices.
I don't have a green thumb. But if I ever own a home, I'd like to have a garden and want to know what the best flowers and plants are to grow. Succulents are good for indoors or outdoors. To learn more, do additional research on eco-friendly succulents and how to grow them sustainably.
~ Do You Remember Humphrey Bogart?— My Fox Nooze (aka Joie de Vivre Magazine) (@FoxMarks_ATX) March 5, 2020
~ Do you have a #favorite #Bogie movie?
~ Would you #bingewatch old #Bogart flicks?
https://t.co/rRIMlKtlM6 @cmoneyspinner #oldmovies #Hollywood #Hollywoodlegends #entertainment @ClassicMovieHub pic.twitter.com/lucy1kzNAc
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Not Uniformly Electric Blue: The real Nymphaea caerulea—sometimes marketed as “electric blue lotus”—doesn’t normally have neon-blue flowers. Authentic petals show a gradient from pale lavender toward deeper violet-blue at the edges and have a faint honeyed scent, while extremely bright blue hues in products often indicate dye or mislabeling.
Distinct from Sacred Lotus: The blue lotus lily is botanically distinct from the sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera). The sacred lotus often has pink or white blooms, whereas the blue lotus (N. caerulea) is a water lily species native to the Nile River basin.
Alkaloid Content Varies Widely: Studies and lab testing show that many commercially sold “blue lotus” products may lack authentic alkaloids (like nuciferine and apomorphine), with significant variation depending on origin and processing, so identifying the correct species and sourcing is important.
The "Stealth flower" photographed blooming at night near Loco, Oklahoma, by Linda Stokes is a Night-Blooming Cereus (Epiphyllum oxypetalum). Also known as "Queen of the Night," this rare, fragrant, white cactus flower blooms only for one night, typically opening around dusk and wilting by dawn.
Alibaba. “How to Choose the Best Blue Lotus Flower Dried: A Complete Buyer’s Guide.” Alibaba.com Product Insights, 2026, https://www.alibaba.com/product-insights/how-to-choose-the-best-blue-lotus-flower-dried-a-complete-buyer’s-guide.html.
Alibaba. “How to Choose Real Blue Lotus: A Complete Buyer’s Guide.” Alibaba.com Product Insights, 2026, https://www.alibaba.com/product-insights/how-to-choose-real-blue-lotus-a-complete-buyer’s-guide.html.
Articles of Interest for Aspiring Photographers:
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Artist Barnali Bagchi (aka moonbeam1212) has so many charming, delightful, fanciful, mesmerizing pieces to choose from, it was difficult for me to narrow down a “representative sample”. These two are inadequate to represent but they are a delicious enough sampling to whet your appetite and make you crave for more. What's not to love about her art?
Shared via Pinterest: http://ift.tt/2gv8fWW
(Question) What does art mean to you?
(Answer) “To me art means beauty. … If I remember correctly, it was the poet Keats who said "A thing of beauty is a joy forever." I feel the "beauty" and "joy" he is alluding to can be encapsulated in one word - art.”
“...does what goes on inside show on the outside? Someone has a great fire in his soul and nobody ever comes to warm themselves at it, and passers-by see nothing but a little smoke at the top of the chimney and then go on their way.”Don't you just feel for this guy?
~ Images: Photo of a young Vincent van Gogh and the famous self-portrait.
Ten surprising facts about Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, his greatest masterpiece https://t.co/ROYNpQs6xb pic.twitter.com/YcINIWYFSY
— ArtRatioUK (@ArtRatioUK) August 15, 2021
Two Crabs, 1889 #postimpressionism #vangogh pic.twitter.com/0kyw0DbLiZ
— Vincent van Gogh (@vangoghartist) December 5, 2021
love this piece—it touches on new forms of “experience” spaces but also questions of scale (the paintings) and scope (art historical biography vs. aesthetics) quite nicely. definitely need to do one of these sometime! https://t.co/zeML9FrhrR
— Alex Zivkovic (@AlexZivkovicArt) August 11, 2021
Vincent van Gogh: meet the man behind the legend | Jorge Sette "Linguagem" @jorgesette7
— Treathyl Fox (aka cmoneyspinner) ~ #Freelancer (@cmoneyspinner) June 14, 2022
~ https://t.co/OgoIIVHNjK
(Image: Fishing Boats on the Beach at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer by Vincent van Gogh) #art #Artists pic.twitter.com/JXIRzF7gnc
Starry Starry Night
— TAXI Theater (@taxitheater) February 24, 2018
by Don McLean
"In the autumn of 1970 ...reading a biography of Van Gogh, and suddenly I knew I had to write a song arguing that he wasn’t crazy."
This April 2018.#multisensorial #immersive #experiential #mentalhealthcare #theatre pic.twitter.com/GZ3wu5uld1
The Spanish graffiti artists who spray-painted the dome of a church http://t.co/hIkcNtDfOi #graffiti #art pic.twitter.com/eVrMzLYzQN— BBC Stories (@bbcstories) February 27, 2013
... the pride of a people, the strength of the earth. Art by Reiner Gamboa in Miami #StreetArt #Art #Pride #NativeAmericans #Earth #Graffiti #Mural #UrbanArt #Miami pic.twitter.com/t083ULN0TU— One World Street & Art (@StreetArtDream) February 1, 2020
? New illustration ! ?゚フ⭐— • Robynn Frauhn • (@RFrauhn) December 8, 2019
I had a lot of fun doing this illustration. I wanted to make mosaïc pattern for a while ! ?
? PSD file, JPEG HD and step by step will be available on my Patreon for the december pack.#illustration #berber #arabic #mosaic #woman #robynnfrauhn pic.twitter.com/QUFg5mBc6s
Fantastically preserved mosaic floor from the House of Paquius Proculus, #Pompeii. #MosaicMonday pic.twitter.com/QT3YUHgddK— Digital Maps of the Ancient World (@DigitalMapsAW) January 20, 2020
A cool #musical #mosaic on the streets of #Alexandria, #EGYPT. Photo by Beth Moon. #street… https://t.co/w0BlMozhwS pic.twitter.com/cSU4l42Cyd— AFKTravel (@AFKTravel) November 3, 2015
Blogs to Follow: Redirecting you to the blog that inspired me to begin this blog.
Artist Louise Bourgeois on How Solitude Enriches Creative Work
– Brain Pickings
Claude Monet’s colorful gardens pic.twitter.com/WPQ25Rivg9— l’art est une étoile (@syiphee) May 3, 2020
New Art History Video! Oscar-Claude Monet! Watch it here! #arthistory #monet #impressionism #finearts #artblog #artvideo https://t.co/lmZbBvxaaH pic.twitter.com/GyXg0vE80r— Brian Sloan Art (@BrianSloanArt) November 17, 2018
#Art-History #Art-Oil #Canvas-Art #Canvas-Paintings #Oil-Paint #art https://t.co/ft4lgfsxcw Pierre-Auguste Renoir The Artists Family 1896 pic.twitter.com/dejNLdnuwQ— Art Photography (@decorationsart) May 16, 2017
"Monet Painting in his Garden at Argenteuil" is a painting by the French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir and shows his friend Claude Monet, with whom he worked together outdoors.#arthistory #impressionism #19thcentury #painters #friendship pic.twitter.com/oMN2ExbFsF— Lady Aviendha (@KunstundSterne) February 3, 2019
The top six Impressionist painters in art history: https://t.co/EVeYCPtYOk pic.twitter.com/VirHXHUPpS— Time Out New York (@TimeOutNewYork) December 5, 2016
#BertheMorisot, “Woman Impressionist,” Emerges from the Margins @the_barnes: The most interesting artist of her generation has been not so much underrated in standard art history as not rated at all https://t.co/f5MRDOFQB1 pic.twitter.com/qg8E1msgN0— Women in the Arts (NMWA) (@WomenInTheArts) November 9, 2018
One of the most famous figures in art history, who never seems to go out of style is Vincent Van Gogh. His characteristic style is still inspiring artists every day. Collect these post-impressionist works! https://t.co/7xAQ1Si3m5 pic.twitter.com/u8AB2hoPUd— Artspace (@artspace) October 28, 2019