Kalanchoe luciae ‘Fantastic’

Every now and then you see a plant that is so unique that you are stopped dead in your tracks. That’s what happened to me at this year’s Succulent Gardens Extravaganza with a newly introduced variegated form of the flapjack plant (Kalanchoe luciae ‘Fantastic’).

This is what it looked like when I bought it:

With crisp fall temperatures finally here, the coloring of Kalanchoe luciae ‘Fantastic’ has changed to a breathtaking palette of pastel hues:

This is my favorite plant at the moment so please bear with me as I post a few more photos.

According to San Marcos Growers, this variegated beauty was discovered in 2009 at a nursery in Holland and brought to the U.S. by Dave Fell of Hawaiian Sunshine Nursery. It received a U.S. plant patent in May 2011 and has become more widely available since then thanks to tissue culturing.

Kalanchoe luciae is hardy to the upper 20s but I’ll bring mine inside at the slightest hint of freezing. It’s such a stunning plant, I don’t want its leaves to be disfigured by frost.