I love the red tint along the edges and the variable greens these plants offer. They are only two feet from each other in a garden meticulously maintained. There is so much in such a small space that it’s hard to decide what to look at. On one, red starts immediately, but on the other it comes almost as an afterthought. Somewhere I wrote about chlorophyl being green, but the green is capable of being drowned out by other colors. When I was in high school we were taught that chlorophyl came in various colors, which explained purple and red tinted leaves. But it turns out, according to Google and others, that chlorophyl is green and simply capable of being overcome.

Whatever is going on, the ability of chlorophyl to step back, as it were, and allow other things to visually predominate, adds a beautiful dimension to a number of succulents. Red in these cases outlines and emphasizes, which does not seem accidental. It makes one wonder how many other tricks Nature has up her sleeve.