Perla Alvarez has never counted the exact number of potted plants surrounding her home in Foster Village, but she’s sure they number somewhere in the thousands.

You could say that Alvarez, 79, is into plants.

The gardener, mother of four, grandmother of 12 and great-grandmother of five has been a collector of succulents since the early ’70s.

"I’m cactus-nut crazy," she said. "When I first started collecting, I collected every single succulent I ever saw. If we didn’t have a certain plant in Hawaii, I would have to have it."

Alvarez’s front yard showcases a variety of succulents — agaves, golden barrels, a miniature variegated jade and crown of thorns (Euphorbia milii) with colorful pinkish-red blooms — planted along a rock riverbed and surrounded by gravel.

Peek around the corner and you’ll find raised platforms of potted plants stretching all along both sides of her home. Plants line the platforms, the ground below and every inch of the back yard.

Every plant is in its own unique pot, with echeveria, aeoniums and variegated gasteria, among others, creating a textured palette of greens, lavenders and reds. The paddle plant (Kalanchoe thyrsiflora) with red-tinged leaves, one of Alvarez’s favorites, occupies a whole row.

From about 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, she’s outdoors, tending to her plants, weeding, pruning and removing pests with a pair of long-nosed tweezers. Watering takes two hours a day, a little longer in the summertime.

Alvarez’s husband, Tony, often jokes that her No. 1 love is her grandchildren, her No. 2 love is her plants and No. 3, him.

She’s a bit of a perfectionist.

"I have thousands, literally thousands of plants that need to be repotted," she said as she pruned. "There’s no end to repotting."

She paused: "Is that a snail there?"

It was, indeed. Alvarez removed the snail and then continued plucking out browned leaves, stepping carefully between spiky plants.

"Look at this! It’s blooming," she said, pointing to a feather cactus (Mammillaria plumosa) with downy, white spines resembling a cottony shroud and delicate white flowers.

She’s grown some succulents from seed, like the elephant’s foot plant (Pachypodium rosalatum) with its yellow blooms, and others she collected and recultivated.

"My favorite, I think, are euphorbias," she said. "Well, I have so many favorites. Euphorbias bloom all year round."

She travels regularly to Arizona, Las Vegas and Southern Cali­for­nia (where two daughters live) to shop for succulents. Every two years she attends the Cactus and Succulent Society of America’s convention, where she hobnobs with other fanatics.

Alvarez said she got her green thumb from her mother, who loved plants.

When she first got married, Alvarez would bring home some of her mother’s plants — ferns and money trees — and they would promptly die. Her older sister recommended she grow hardy succulents because they were pretty much impossible to kill, and that’s how her collection began.

Since then Alvarez, a classical singer, has been successfully growing suc­culents, orchids, ti, bromeliads and tillandsia, or air plants.

At one time Alvarez, who retired in 1999 after 25 years as a long-distance operator for the former Hawaiian Telephone Co., juggled a nighttime job with watching her grandchildren and tending to her plants.

Now that her grandchildren are grown, some with children of their own, Alva­rez is solely devoted to her plants. She admits to being fickle, going through phases when it comes to her love of plants, as evidenced by her membership in the Cactus and Succulent Society of Hawaii, the Hawaii Bonsai Association and the Kunia, Ewa and Windward orchid clubs. (Alvarez was into orchids during the ’80s, but they can’t be neglected as easily as succulents can, she said.)

Alvarez now focuses mostly on succulents and receives invitations to display her plants at various shows and conventions.

The most common mistake with succulents is overwatering. The greatest reward is the blooms, she said.

"I just love the flowers," she said. "They give back after I put in so much time. When I see them bloom, it’s a surprise."

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CLARIFICATION: New York City’s ban would not take effect until July 2015.