Kalanchoe Thyrsiflora is an interesting succulent. It grows in rosettes of flat round gray green leaves. It also goes by the names Paddle Plant, and Flapjack. The margins of the leaves become a colorful red with more sun exposure. The leaves also have a white powdery coating that protects them from sunburn. I wrote about this protective coating in a previous post. See Here.

The plant produces yellow flowers on the top of a long spike. It  prefers bright indirect sunlight. Kalanchoe Thyrsiflora is part of the stone crop family. It is also drought tolerant and does best in a well drained, sandy soil. You should water it less often in winter. Never water the plant from the crown, as it may cause the crown to rot.

The mature plant dies after flowering, but by that time the mother plant will have produced many offsets which you can remove and plant separately. You should repot the main plant every year, using a pot that isn’t overly large.

Here you see the plant from the side. The bottom leaves may drop off as the plant grows. This is natural, so don’t worry. The plant grows from its crown.

This plant can be propagated from leaf cuttings or offsets. When taking leaf cuttings, you should sterilize your knife or scissors. Let the leaf harden off, then plant in the proper soil. Do not water the leaf cutting until it has produced new roots. Then water sparingly.

I wrote the above section of this post back in August. Below are two new photos I took yesterday. It is now November. You can see the difference in color after the plant was outdoors in a sunny location for several weeks. The blue green leaves have turned quite red. Below that is a photo of an offset growing from the mother plant. When the offset has grown larger, I will give it a pot of its own.

I have moved the plant back inside and it will be interesting so see if the red fades. When we had the inside of our home painted, I moved many of my plants outdoors, but have brought them all back indoors as it has gotten much colder outside, especially during the night. I love that plants are like people with individual personalities.