They are definitely artificially colored & many of us here HATE them. Sorry, but many if not most of us, find unnaturally colored stuff like this just appalling!!

I'd go w/ those IDs broadly speaking.

Ditto what pirategirl said..Don't mess with mother nature!!!
Kathi

These are a gimmick. They have some kind of paint or dye on them, likely intended for temporary d.ecoration, similar to painted poinsettias or poor little NIP's with fake snow sprayed on them. On the plant on the left, you can see where some of the color has chipped off.

The sad thing is that if they'd just put the "regular" little succulent plants in the sun, most will develop very pretty colors naturally, and usually some kind of flowers. Dye/paint is not necessary to achieve great natural colors though the tones in those pics are not natural, so not naturally possible to duplicate.

Although I'm not interested in this look, I still say more power to those who want to temporarily d.ecorate with these plants, even if I (or someone else, never was clear on that) was threatened with physical violence last time I got involved in a discussion about these plants. I don't see any difference between that and someone b.uying annuals to decorate flower beds or pots, that are really perennials that just can't permanently live where they are placed. Also, like the Thanksgiving/Christmas cactus, some of these plants may only be seen by some people in this form, and/or only at this time of year. In that case, I see no harm in trying to rescue one vs. not having the plant at all. The fact that any are purchased would send a wrong m.essage from my personal perspective to the grower/store. It would be terrible irony if saving them out of disgust resulted in "them" thinking people want more. For that reason, I would not purchase them. Though no plant is immune to dying at my house unexpectedly, I'm not interested in temporary plants except a very few 'annuals' for outside.

The color may wear off, or maybe all of the leaves completely covered with color are doomed, IDK. If anyone has a theory about the possible longevity of these plants, or has tried rescuing one, I haven't seen any discussion about it here. Understandable considering how ugly and emotional some of the comments have been when folks are just trying to figure out what's going on with these, and probably some are wondering if they can survive long-term. I hope this discussion doesn't go the same way.

(Mid-word periods added to fool auto-ad attached to my words. I'm not s.elling anything here.)

This post was edited by purpleinopp on Tue, Dec 3, 13 at 10:19