Summer's End
The garden is waking up after summer lassitude. The gardener feels better as well. There are some change-of-season surprises.
Aloe reitzii has been growing in the garden from a very small size for several years. It is finally producing its first flower stem. Nice surprise! For a moment I thought some creature had pooped in the center of the plant.
The emerging flower looks dried out, doesn't it? However, a friend's A. reitzii bloomed a year or two ago, and started the same way. The friend's reitzii subsequently produced a big beautiful flower stem...so I assume this will be fine.
Protea 'Sylvia' also has its first flower bud. It was hidden under new growth, making it hard to spot. Looking forward to seeing this beauty.
I thought the Lemonade Berry, Rhus ovata, moved this spring to a more spacious location, had died. I cut off some dead material but noticed further down on the stems there was still green under the bark, so it got a soak of water.
And voila…
Aloe reitzii has been growing in the garden from a very small size for several years. It is finally producing its first flower stem. Nice surprise! For a moment I thought some creature had pooped in the center of the plant.
The emerging flower looks dried out, doesn't it? However, a friend's A. reitzii bloomed a year or two ago, and started the same way. The friend's reitzii subsequently produced a big beautiful flower stem...so I assume this will be fine.
Protea 'Sylvia' also has its first flower bud. It was hidden under new growth, making it hard to spot. Looking forward to seeing this beauty.
I thought the Lemonade Berry, Rhus ovata, moved this spring to a more spacious location, had died. I cut off some dead material but noticed further down on the stems there was still green under the bark, so it got a soak of water.
And voila…
