Surprise! I dyed my hair leaves!
That is what one of my Echeverias shouted to me this morning. I was amazed by this change in its colour, as there are leaves that completely turned into white. So beautiful in this version! 😍
I have had this Echeveria for years, it was one plant in the beginning but then I separated the long branches and planted them apart. And it happened also last year when the biggest plant just decided to leave our world, I saved some cuttings and leaves. They grow easily, even from a leaf. No worries, I have this type of Echeveria in several pots.
Some of the rosettes are variegated for a long time already, like this one:
We could imagine that the plants are having fun and want to change their appearance, but this change is due to a genetic mutation. And if we think better - it is maybe not the best for the plant - to lose in that level its pigmentation. It is missing the chlorophyll cells in the white parts and the leaf is not nourishing the plant. Beauty could kill it in the end? I will just continue loving the new colour and hope for its long life.
Most likely some of the babies of this plant will also have variegated leaves, but I don't see a pattern as some of my new plants grown by this one preserved their green-blue colour without the white stripes and others got it. They are living in the community pot, together with other plants (the two rosettes on the bottom). I grew the smaller one just from a leaf. There are actually a few more, still smaller ones in this pot, between the other plants.
The change in pigmentation can happen also in other succulents, and into a different colour. Several pots of Echeveria Pulvinata (my fuzzy Ruby Blush) show different behaviour. The smaller plants, that I got from making cuttings have the characteristic red and purple edges:
The mother plant right now doesn't have those red shades on the edges of the leaves. The difference could be due to the position of the plant on the balcony, the big one is on the left side of the balcony and the other pots of the same plant are on the opposite side. They probably don't get the same amount of sun.
If you look carefully at the next photo, you will notice some white dots. Nothing wrong with the plant, no... It's that... oh, where should I start and not get upset hahaha. 😂
So, it's that my husband is feeding a sparrow and giving him dried bread crumbs every day close to this plant, so now I have bread crumbs all around... {sigh}
The rest of the succulents are also doing well. The Aloe Vera grew very big, as well as the two Aeoniums (they were just small cuttings a few years ago that I took from the street). One is missing a branch as I accidentally broke it a few months ago while giving it a shower.
Crassula Ovata also became a giant. It needs a bigger pot already... It is very heavy and is not stable so I have it on the floor as I am afraid it can fall and break its branches.
As a comparison, I took a photo of this small baby (one of many that I got in January - thanks to their real mom 😇)
It is how the baby is small compared to the giant Crassula.
"Elmo baby" is also here, with the baby gang. No, no buds at the moment.
No buds from Elmo but the plant with the very long branches, as I called them tentacles, bloomed for weeks. Tiny, yellow stars from almost every stem, but I was late in taking some pictures. The majority of the flowers are now already drying up, and just a few are still in this shape. Well, one photo is better than none :D
