20+Astonishing Red Succulents That Stays Red

The word Succulent is derived from the Latin word ‘sucus’, meaning juicy or sap. In general, Succulents are referred to as the plants with fleshy and engorged parts adapted to retain water in arid climates and dry soil conditions. They have different parts modified for the water storage and are drought tolerant. They are low maintenance house plants, popularly used for decorating indoor space, garden areas or as hanging baskets. They can be a best choice for first time plant owners.

What makes these plants even more interesting is the variety in their color. The colorful succulents  make your space vibrant and cheerful. They are available in varieties of shades like Yellow, Orange, red, brown, pink succulents and more. What we’re discussing here are the succulents red in color. 

The red succulents are really striking jaw-droppers. They bring about some bright and colorful vibe in your space. The vibrant red tones are a show-stopper. The red hue present in them comes from the anthocyanin pigment which is produced in response to heat and light stress. They do pretty well with lots of bright sunlight and few watering. 

They can be popped as a centerpiece in your decorations or in your garden bed and window area. The red succulents are quite popular among a wide range of gardeners, starting from beginners to professional  planters as well. Their gorgeous red shades can be obtained even with minimal care and attention. This is the major reason we can see most of the gardeners going for the red succulents.

In this article, we’ll be discussing some general features of a few popular red succulents. Read till the end to decide which red succulent or succulents you would want for your collection.

Red Succulents

1. Echeveria Romeo ‘Rubin’ 

Echeveria Romeo Rubin

It is an extremely beautiful echeveria with bright red or purple red leaves broad at the bottom with terminal spines arranged in a sessile clumps of rosette structure up to 15 cm in diameter. It is a dwarf hybrid succulent on high demand for its amazing beauty. These succulents tend to go bigger in size when the  roots are all sort of bound up compared to others growing in an open pot.

2. Sempervivum ‘Red Rubin’ 

Sempervivum red rubin

It is also called Hens and Chicks. It is a mat-forming succulent with fleshy emerald green leaves adorned with burgundy-red tips forming a rosette. This attractive succulent has very bright foliage that darkens and becomes even more intensive in wintertime. The plant gains the dark red shade due to stress in cooler temperatures. It produces beautiful pink blooms in a thick flowering stalk during summer.

3. Echeveria Nodulosa ‘Maruba Benitsuakasa’

Some people also call it the Hybrid Painted lady. It is a Japanese cultivar of Echeveria nodulosa with lanceolate leaves bearing a contrast of color and slightly curved upward, arranged in a rosette.  It has got beautiful markings in the middle and on the edges as well. It has alternate tings of greyish-green and red in the middle. It produces pale yellow flowers with red tinge at base during its blooming period in late summer and early autumn.

 4. Peperomia Graveolens ‘Ruby glow’ 

Peperomia graveolens ruby glow

This red succulent is native to southern Ecuador which used to be rare but available worldwide now. The Ruby glow bears fleshy leaves with green surface and red undersides.  It is really attractive and priced due to its V-shaped and windowed leaves attached to red or bright red stems. The leaves are curved inwards, highlighting the beautiful red abaxial side. It produces tiny flowers in long stalks during its bloom.

5. Echeveria Pappy’s Rose

Echeveria Pappy's rose 

Pappy’s rose is a beautiful rare succulent with powdery coating on their leaf surfaces developed by Dick Wright. This echeveria species has a flat chunky red leaves with curved edges. The leaves show bright red tones during summer in the presence of strong light. They are less frost and shade tolerant. 

6. Crassula capitella ‘Campfire’

Crassula capitella Campfire

Also called red pagoda, Crassula capitella beautiful succulent is native to southern Africa. It bears some fleshy propeller-like leaves which are light green and turn into brilliant shades or red, orange and yellow in the presence of ample sunlight. It produces clusters of white flowers during its blooming period.

7. Kalanchoe Sexangularis

Kalanchoe Sexangularis

It is also called bushveld kalanchoe or six-angled kalanchoe. It is an evergreen fast growing succulent with upwardly-cupped leaves elliptical in shape, having strong scalloped or zigzag margin. The upper surface is green with red edges and the underside is totally reddish in color. It produces bright yellow flowers during bloom.

8. Kalanchoe blossfeldiana sp 

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana-sp

It is known by other names like Flaming katy, Christmas kalanchoe, florist kalanchoe and Madagascar widow’s-thrill. It is an extremely cold sensitive bushy herbaceous succulent. It bears fleshy, ovate leaves with terminal panicles of tubular red flowers.  Its flowers come in multiple colours such as pink, red, orange, white which can last up to 8 weeks. 

9. Moon cactus

Moon cactus

It is a red grafted cactus produced by grafting varied achlorophyllous mutants with hylocereus cactus. This grafted cactus has an unusual unique look and its red colour adds colourful vibes to your house. It’s a fun and easy house plant which can be a good choice especially for beginners in this plant world.

10. Echeveria Agavoides ‘frank reinelt’

Echeveria Agavoides frank

Echeveria frank reinelt is a gorgeous Echeveria hybrid discovered by Frank Reinelt himself. It is an eye-catching small succulent that forms a rosette of thick dark green leaves with red margins and tips. The plant shows its brilliant red shades during autumn and winter when it gets stressed. 

11. Echeveria Agavoides ebony

Echeveria Agavoides ebony

Echeveria red ebony, also called ebony wax agave is a beautiful rewarding succulent with  large intensely colored pointed fleshy leaves forming tight rosettes. It produces reddish pink flowers with yellow tips during late winter and spring.

12. Echeveria Big Red

Echeveria Big Red

The Echeveria big red is a beautiful red succulent with broad rounded leaves arranged in a large rosette form. The leaves’ color changes from green in the summer to spectacular wine red in Winter because of the stress. 

13. Echeveria ‘Taurus’

Echeveria Taurus

It is an eye-catcher evergreen hybrid succulent with a compact rosette of triangular red-green pointed leaves. The green centre in the leaves moves through purple to red to dark tips. It is a gorgeous cultivar which produces red and yellow blooms on long stems in summer.

14. Sedum ‘Dragon’s Blood’ 

Sedum Dragon’s Blood

It is a mat forming succulent which thrives in bright sunlight, spreading quickly to form a dense superb ground cover. It has bronze or reddish fleshy, rounded foliage in summer which changes to brilliant red in fall. They bloom during summer to produce clusters of small, ruby-red starry flowers.

15. Kalanchoe Humilis

Kalanchoe Humilis

It is an unusual variegated succulent with fleshy, ovoid pale green foliage striped with purple to maroon or burgundy blotches. It is a low-growing evergreen perennial shrub, very showy and attractive in nature.

16. Kalanchoe thyrsiflora ‘Flapjack’

Kalanchoe thyrsiflora Flapjack

It is also known by other names like paddle plant, dog tongue or desert cabbage. It is drought tolerant plant growing about 12-18 inches tall. The basal rosettes are formed by thick, ovoid, paddle shaped leaves. It bears some yellow flowers during its bloom in late winter to early spring.

17. Echeveria Bloody Maria

Echeveria Bloody Maria

It is an evergreen Korean hybrid Echeveria with plum, chunky glossy green leaves having deep red pointed tips. It is fairly drought tolerant which changes into maroon red during winter or cooler temperatures. It grows best in the presence of ample sunlight.

18. Aeonium Mascaense

Aeonium Mascaense

It is an evergreen small multi-branching natural hybrid succulent with plump, fleshy and spined lime green leaves arranged in a rosette structure. The leaves bear a strong red stripe down the middle. It is not drought tolerant and thrives best when the temperatures are cool during winter to spring. 

19. Aeonium Mardi Gras

Aeonium Mardi Gras

Mardi gras is an evergreen showy hybrid succulent popularly grown outdoors. It has a rainbow of colour adorning its broad leaves. It has a magnificent tricolour variegation with beautiful emerald green and lemon yellow leaves arranged in a typical aeonium rosette structure. It is a slow-grower house plant. The rich mix of yellow red and pink variegation alongside the natural green color makes for a spectacular display in your space. The color of the variegation changes with the seasons.

20. Echeveria ‘Red wings’

Echeveria Red wings

Native to Mexico, it is a beautiful succulent with wide ovate leaves curved and slightly ruffled at the edges. The foliage  bears dark red or burgundy tone which turns into reddish colour in response to the light stress. It is a low-growing succulent with few non-compact rosettes of tongue-like leaves curved downwards.

21. Echeveria ‘Magic Red’

Echeveria Magic Red

Magic Red is an evergreen perennial hybrid subshrub succulent having colorful fleshy leaves in a typical Echeveria rosette structure. It has unique dark purple and red hues which turn bright red or fiery red in summer and deepen as the season changes. This succulent produces urn-shaped attractive yellow flowers in its bloom,

Conclusion 

After going through all the red succulents, you can find the majority of them are Echeveria species. This is because the Echeverias are most responsive to stress which gives your collection a whole new vibrance and contrast.  The popularity of these succulents is growing rapidly in this modern world of busy bees where people are suckers for gardening but cannot allocate proper time for it. The majority of first hand plant owners start. off their journey with these succulents. If you can get such a colorful vibrant succulent without any obstacles then, WHY NOT? Just grab it and go for these attractive red succulents.

Author

  • Sochan Limbu

    A graduate of the Agriculture and Forestry University, Nepal, Mr. Sochan Limbu is an agriculture professional. The author has worked in the gardening field for more than three years and has practical knowledge on how to handle and care for succulents. Get started gardening with his articles.

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