Weirdness

With hundreds of species and thousands of cultivars and varieties, Echeveria has a wide range of weird adaptations. Some are natural, and some like the bumps on 'Rainbow Drops' are brought out by a hybridizer. When I got this plant more than two months ago, there weren't a lot of bumps. Now there are. The color also has shifted toward the pastel as it has been living in a south-facing window under grow lights. The first image is from today; the second is from March 13 after the plant had recovered from shipping but before the color shifted and the bumps really started to develop.

This is Coleus Colorblaze Wicked Witch, and Coleus in general are sort of weird. Most of them do not have conventional green leaves. One lesson I learned from succulents is "Don't overwater," and even though this is not a succulent I have resisted the urge to drown it. The surface of the soil is dry, but my moisture meter says, "Wait!" Its pot is glazed ceramic so should not dry out as fast as terra cotta.

I'm getting a few more weird things in my Succulents Depot re-order, including a Thimble Cactus. Images to come.

Speaking of orders, I said I wasn't going to bother complaining to The Next Gardener about their order a month ago because I didn't know if the plants I would receive would be any better than what I got. But they reached out to me about the 'Apricot Beauty' fiasco and sent me what appears to be a good replacement, so I also mentioned to them that the Echeveria 'Rainbow' was falling apart and did not appear to have a healthy stem. They are processing a replacement.

Now if you will excuse me, I have to unbox the Delosperma 'Fire Spinner' Ice Plants I just received from The Three Company via Amazon. These are weird also, colorful flowers and hardy down to Zone 3.

Five minutes later:

Now what do I do? The pots are six inches deep and I'm not sure where I am going to plant them if the roots are really that long. I think I have one vacant eight-inch terra cotta, and it may be time to evict another 'Velveteen Aromatic'™ to free up another eight-inch.