@Skye Welcome to ATP!
And yeah it appears the spray painting has made its way to Kansas. I saw my first spray painted plants a few days ago at Walmart too...

@StaticAsh - Thanks, I am enjoying the site and everyone has been very helpful. You know if it is new, Walmart is going to have it, be it a tater twister or painted cacti.........................we can always count on them

Haha!

A friend of mine texted me a picture this morning of one of these. He was not happy to hear he had picked up a plant that was not what it was sold as. I have not seen them yet in person. I stopped into H.D. today just to see if they had them. They did have lots of cactus that had fake flowers glued but not any of the painted ones. To bad about the flower glue. I might have bought some if were not for the fake flowers. There were some really unusual ones.

I did walk past a large rack of blue orchids. It reminded me of that poem " The saddest thing I ever did see was a wood pecker pecking on a plastic tree, and friend he says to me, things ain't as sweet as they used to be"

There was a thread on Facebook where they showed a picture of some dyed cactus and everyone thought they were horrible.

orchidgal said:@ Donald (They must sell to someone since they keep doing it.)
A few years ago I had a laughing fit when I was in a local flea market with a friend ---- there was a huge black velvet picture, of Elvis - with a clock in the middle. Like you said -- someone buys this crap.

.well I love the painted cacti and painted heather. Each to their own. If you don't like them don't buy them

I do buy the cactus with the glued on flowers because they are ones that I don't have yet. I have found that using a blow dryer on them on low for a short while softens the glue and it comes off without harming the cactus. Haven't tried the painted ones yet but if I find one I like, I'll try it. They seem to survive just fine.

The glued-on flowers are not fake, they are real flowers. Changes in humidity can make them continue to open and close for months. I have been seeing those in stores for decades.

The glued on flowers, the ones that really are glued on, come from a plant called the strawflower. They keep their color and shape after they are picked and dried. They are from the Asteraceae.

Nothing wrong with painted plants as long as you know they are not that color and will not stay that color. Most people don't and get mad when they find out. I was really excited to find a nice variegated hybrid aloe/haworthia plant and when I took a closer look, it was painted on. Almost threw it back. But maybe the next person will learn to love the plant after the pained leaves fade or is replace with new normal looking ones.

That sounds like a new level of odd, Stush, please take a pic of painted-on variegation if you see it again & have the means.

Yes please - pics are good

Paulineb118 said:

.well I love the painted cacti and painted heather. Each to their own. If you don't like them don't buy them

Hi Pauline,

I think the biggest problem with the painted cactus is that many of them are dead before they ever get to a new home. After all, how could you tell? And many of those that arrive alive don't have a chance of staying that way. There's no photosynthesizing going on inside all that paint. The plant is essentially living on stored energy until some of the paint grows out. Its not fair to unsuspecting buyers to take home a beautiful plant only to discover it was DOA.

If you have had success with painted cactus, that's great! Please show us photos of your plants. We are all about photos.

I've had those glued on strawflowers go to seed while still glued on the heads of my cactus. And the seeds germinated.

We see these in the UK as well. I just don't understand the attraction.To me it is a waste of what should be a beautiful natural plant.

Welcome to NGA. @Ukam! I agree. I hate seeing them, and try to educate people who are looking at them.

Only picture I could find. They look like Gasteraloe cv Flow painted with different colors.

I think spray painted cacti are hideous. And yet, I wear makeup Every Single Day. I wish I could logically reconcile those two views, but I can't.

Stush, TY for the pic. I can't imagine to whom those might appeal, but I don't begrudge anyone for liking them. I think I said it before, the frustrating part is that there were probably not UNpainted ones available.

Lucille, kudos to your introspection. No reconciliation is required - u "should" do whatever you enjoy - but I like your acknowledgment of the similarity and willingness to engage in the introspection. :+)

I'm just amazed at how these plants can not only survive but continue to grow covered in that paint.

Hideous, shocking even. What the February are they thinking.