Kosmik, round 2

It's almost universally agreed -- but not unanimously so -- that the Kosmik Kactus that I saw last winter at Home Depot were an abomination. Those dyed cactus and succulents just looked too wild, and their colorful tones would soon fade. Would their owners lose interest and let the plants suffer, or get rid of them entirely?

Well, I hate to say it, but after seeing today's post you're going to wish for the older-style Kosmiks I think.

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I took a quick look around the indoor Home Depot garden department the other day -- I usually only do this in the winter months, because most of what I'm interested in is found outdoors -- and saw that the Kosmiks were still around...

...but even more horrible because it appears that they're now just painting the plants!

I couldn't even focus correctly it was so horrid!

The old ones looked downright natural by comparison. Sure they're multi-colored now, but is that better?

Just terrible! You could even see the paint flaking off from some of these.

It's like the art projects of a grade-school class, a riot of color on the table drying, the kids' first exposure to tempra paints.

I could see people buying the older style dyed ones, but painted? Even somebody with no plant knowledge can surely see that there is paint on these plants, right?

I just don't understand it.

(Please note that I have nothing against tempra paints or children's art classes. Lots of things look great when painted, and paint is an amazing creative medium -- just keep it off the plants!)

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