The old gardener's saying goes that we only learn how to grow a plant by killing it three times. Okay! Then I guess I now know how to grow Aloe polyphylla.
It was looking pretty good. The foliage was properly turgid.
It had grown a lot, from 4" to nearly 12"...
I removed the rock mulch to see a reasonably health root...yay!!! And not a single mealy bug!
But then...oh dear...
I'm crushed. Egregiously crushed. Another Aloe polyphylla croaking because of moi. I am telling myself: if you don't kill it, someone else will. But that helps only a little. I feel very low. Update 6/1/2012: It seems to have survived (as of 6/1/2012, anyway).
And my transplanted 'Icee Blue' Podocarpus that I blogged about back in October has gone kaput too. It looked quite good from October all the way to the brief heat wave we had a week or two ago, and sudden, complete browning ensued. Kaput.
Well, at least I've only killed one of those!
On the other hand, I thought the 'Renae' standard by the driveway was a goner. Just a month ago it looked wretched. Now...
"Fooled you", it seems to shout.
It was looking pretty good. The foliage was properly turgid.
It had grown a lot, from 4" to nearly 12"...
I removed the rock mulch to see a reasonably health root...yay!!! And not a single mealy bug!
But then...oh dear...
I'm crushed. Egregiously crushed. Another Aloe polyphylla croaking because of moi. I am telling myself: if you don't kill it, someone else will. But that helps only a little. I feel very low. Update 6/1/2012: It seems to have survived (as of 6/1/2012, anyway).
And my transplanted 'Icee Blue' Podocarpus that I blogged about back in October has gone kaput too. It looked quite good from October all the way to the brief heat wave we had a week or two ago, and sudden, complete browning ensued. Kaput.
Well, at least I've only killed one of those!
On the other hand, I thought the 'Renae' standard by the driveway was a goner. Just a month ago it looked wretched. Now...
"Fooled you", it seems to shout.
I have to admit I don't understand what we are looking at in the last Aloe picture? It still looks healthy to me...I mean of course we shouldn't be looking at the bottom of the plant but the roots and what leaves I can see look okay. Why did it die?
ReplyDeleteHi Danger, there should be lots and lots of longer roots, and all fat and white, not a few roots with blackish areas. The whole blackish area should be an area of white sprouting roots.
ReplyDeleteA. polyphylla is really an alpine plant that lives in crumbling stone with snow melt constantly trickling over the roots. It's fairly easy in central and northern coastal Calfornia, and I am finding very difficult in Southern California.
Why it died is that I am a bad, bad alpine plant grower. :(
It is actually still alive, but on the precipice...if I can't get those roots growing and fat again...doomed!
I've seen those roots before on my A. polyphylla when the plant sloughed off like a cheap toupee. Sooo sorry about the podocarpus. Renae is one tough girl, even thriving in our hellstrip, climbing a jacaranda.
ReplyDeleteThe good people at the California Cactus Center in Pasadena told me not to try the A. polyphylla because it won't work here in Southern California. I saw one at Roger's Gardens and passed it up. Very tempting though when you see pictures of the mature ones!
ReplyDeleteYes Count, I just could not resist!
ReplyDelete