Wrong, wrong, WRONG!
I hate cruelty to plants. I dislike it when plants are not shown respect. I frown when I see dyed heathers. I want to talk very severely to the plant buyer when I see dyed moth orchids with their insanely, inky blooms.
So you can guess how I felt when I saw these little beauties being offered by a nursery in the Netherlands. *
I was going to save this for Paddy’s day but I can’t contain my disgust any longer! You can have an echeveria to suit your nationality. How cool is that? Not very cool at all actually. It is horrible. And imagine how awful they will look when they start to grow if they don’t die with the indignity of it all.
* Photos are from Amigo Plant nurseries who are, perhaps, better known for ‘glow-in-the-dark’ echeverias. I hate to think what they are working on next!
Actually I know. They have just exhibited it at a horticultural show in the Netherlands. It is ‘Paint your plant’ – ‘With this concept children can colour the leaves of the plant. Fun for a party.’
no, No, NOOOOO
I am just glad I only had pass-the-parcel and jelly when I was a child or I might have ended up spraying graffiti on cabbages.
What do you think?
Geoff’s rating
– 300
Garden rating
-299
at least the frost will kill them!
The Biking Gardener 
sad very very sad
Glad you agree. I hope I don’t see one on your windowsill!
Oh God, I haven’ t seen these before. Awful, awful, awful. I always rage when I see dyed heathers and I just discovered dyed orchids recently and I couldn’t t believe my eyes. What arrogance to think you can improve on the exquisite perfection of an orchid.Why would you want to try? The sad thing is that there must be people out there who buy these horrors.
I agree. What is worse is that it is misleading. I know someone who bought one of those dyed heathers (I do still speak to him) and was disappointed when the new growth was plain green.
Aaaaaahh!! š± Mr. Chef had to express an opinion too – “What’s the point?”
what’s the point indeed! Apart from fooling people and making cash. It is basically about making more money from a cheap plant
I agree, one might as well make a banner and leave the plants alone!
Absolutely! It is bad enough when plants are sold in hideous bright pink or purple pots but this is a step too far.
I just hope people don’t buy them. Why? I mean really? Why would anyone need a red, white, and blue succulent? my goodness. Good post…… perhaps people will read it, see the craziness in dyed plants, and support buying plants for their own natural beauty. I think people would stop coming to our nursery if we started offering red, white, and blue dyed plants.
I am glad your customers have better taste! And obviously like real plants. I think it all started years ago with those helichrysum flowers stuck on cacti and it spread from there. What is so appalling is that these echeverias were displayed at a trade show in the novelty area as new products. I am all for innovation and new plants but this is symptomatic of an age when labelling and marketing is seen as more important than the product. Thanks for reading and good luck selling real plants š
So true! Fortunately, being a nursery that offers native and woodland plants, as well as plants for the shade, our marketing is not mainstream. We are enjoying your blog….always interesting and informative.
Thank you for your comment and I am glad you like the blog. Yours is fascinating too. We have hundreds of rooks here and sheep but they have not formed a symbiotic relationship like yours! But the rooks do land to collect scraps of straw and horse manure, presumably to line their nests – not the lovers of luxury like yours!