Hi Karen,

Some sedums revert back to plain green quite easily--'Tricolor' is especially a problem this way. Anytime you put in a variegated sedum, watch for green shoots coming up and pull them out as soon as you see them. If you do, it should maintain its original color.

I'm not sure what's happening with your hen & chicks, but do you know that a lot of them are different colors in summer and winter? That could be what's happening. If you bought them when it was still cold out, they may have had their winter color and now they've got their summer clothes on. Wait till it gets cold out again in fall and see if you get the same color you remember buying. Usually they'll be more green in summer, and darker red or whatever over winter.

Skybird

I don't know the answer but thought I'd share this with you as a thought. I recently purchased a sedum with light orange/yellow foliage. The lady I got it from told me to be sure to plant it in "poor" soil, well draining and not too rich in nutrients - similar to a cactus soil mix. She said that if it was planted in richer garden soil that it would not keep it's unique coloring and it would turn all green.

I also have a lot of different hens and chicks and I have noticed that the ones I have planted in my outdoor cactus garden (in cactus soil) are much more colorful than the ones that I have planted in my regular gardens with black dirt and fertilizer. Maybe it's the difference in the soil?

Hmmmmm? I wonder if the soil IS key????
thx Karen

OK, this may not apply, but I asked the same question regarding my variegated Turk's Cap. It's new seedlings are green, and not the fabulous white/green tie dye plant I bought. Here's what I learned on the Texas forum:

Variegation is produced by a virus in the plant. I was told that it is NOT something that the nursery can reproduce, it is genetic and random. The green seedlings I have are just the "healthy" versions that don't have the virus.

This may or may not apply to your succulents. But it would make me tend to want to avoid rich soil. If the color is maintained by "poor" health (you know what I mean), then fertilizing might "heal" up your variagation.

I'm just so frustrated with this same problem in my yard!

The variegation can be a genetic characteristic or from viruses as said above. In both cases, tha characteristic can be "lost" in new shoots. For most variegated plants you need to watch and pick out the all green shoots when you see them (also as mentioned above). This way you are only letting the plants with the variegation genes (or the virus) grow on, and you will maintain the color. Some genetic variegations are very hard to "revert" (mutate back to green) and in these plants the pretty colors are more stable.