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Echeveria 'Dick's Pink' - A solitary rosette-forming succulent with medium-sized heads to 8 to 10 inches wide on an elongating thick stem with large bluish to purple-grey leaves that have attractively contrasting red frilled leaf margins. Leaf color changes through the season and is more purple in winter and bluer when in active growth in spring and summer. Stout flower stalks rise above the foliage bearing large light red flowers.
Plant in full sun in a well-drained soil and irrigate occasionally. This plant is relatively fast growing and benefits from being beheaded and re-rooted every 2-3 years.
The genus Echeveria is a member of the large Crassula family (Crassulaceae), which has about 1,400 species in 33 genera with worldwide distribution. Echeveria, with approximately 180 species, are native to mid to higher elevations in the Americas with the main distribution in Mexico and central America but with one species found from as far north as southern Texas and several species occurring as far south as Bolivia, Peru and possibly Argentina. The name for the genus honors the Mexican botanical artist Atanasio Echeverría y Godoy in 1828 by the French botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle (DeCandolle) who was very impressed with Echeverría's drawings. Echeverría had accompanied the the Sessé and Mociño expedition (led by Martin de Sessé y Lacasta and Mariano Mociño Suárez de Figueroa) while exploring Mexico and northern Central America and had produced thousands of botanical illustrations. The book The genus Echeveria by John Pilbeam (published by the British Cactus and Succulent Society, 2008) is an excellent source of information on the species and Echeveria Cultivars by Lorraine Schulz (AKA Rudolf Schulz) and Attila Kapitany (Schulz Publishing, 2005) has beautiful photos and great information on the cultivars and hybrids. It has been argued by some that the correct pronunciation for the genus is ek-e-ve'-ri-a, though ech-e-ver'-i-a seems in more prevalent use in the US.
This cultivar is of uncertain origin though looks to have Echeveria shaviana and E. gibbiflora parentage. It is not thought to be associated with legendary Echeveria hybridizer Dick Wright so must have been named by or for some other Dick. We received our plants of this cultivar from Longview Horticulture of Australia in 2008 and we have grown and sold it ever since.
This information about Echeveria 'Dick's Pink' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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