Thar She Goes!/Sunrise/New Plant

 

No, not her. 

Her:

There goes big, beautiful, silvery Agave marmorata, purchased as a small offset in April, 2011.  The flower stem will ultimately be 20-25' tall, with hundreds of flowers to nourish bees and nectar-feeding birds.  Each leaf is at least 5' long. 

Two offsets of this Agave are already growing elsewhere in the garden, so the garden will not be without it for many years to come.  I also gave away an offset.  This Agave offsets just a little, on the uphill side of the plant, making the offsets easy to remove.  A virtue that won't quite make up for the effort required to remove the remains of this plant when it is bloomed out. 

Planted a little earlier (2010), Kumara (Aloe) plicatilis has also grown considerably.  It is the single fan of leaves to the upper left of a young Aloe dichotoma that unfortunately root rotted:

And now, the same plicatilis, 2020:
Then-and-nows remind us the only constant is change.

Koi are not usually early risers but Rita was swimming around a few days ago, as the sun rose. 

I wonder if she was surprised the sunrise was even more colorful than she is. 
Just a minute later, the color was already fading. 

A nice change for the sky instead of smoked grey, or plain blue. Speaking of blue, a plant purchase, so rare this year:  Agapanthus 'Black Pantha', via mail order.  I really wanted 'Graskop', but could not find one.  A quality plant arrived in good condition:

Planted about 20 minutes after arrival. 
The flowers next June(?) will tell whether or not this will satisfy the deep indigo Agapanthus craving I've been suffering from, or if the search for 'Graskop' needs to continue.  Maybe it will continue anyway.

Comments

  1. Deeply envious. Your climate (as always). Agaves, with offsets. Koi. Stunning sunrises (too many trees here). But. I do have Graskop..

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    1. "Deeply envious"-- Likewise!

      Enjoy 'Graskop' for me, please. :)

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  2. Spectacular Sky shots. This is so exciting to see an Agave flowering. It would be my pleasure if you join my link up party related to Gardening here at http://jaipurgardening.blogspot.com/2020/10/garden-affair-succulents-world.html

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    Replies
    1. Glad you like the photos.

      Thanks for the invite, but just don't have the time.

      Delete
  3. OMG! That Kumara (Aloe) plicatilis then and now is jaw-dropping.

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  4. I am always fascinated by those Agaves blooms. Beautiful skies. It looks like your koi is admiring it.

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  5. Gorgeous sunrise! Our marine layer has been socking us in every morning of late so no spectacular sunrises here but I'm not complaining as at least our temperatures have come down. I'm hoping my Kumara goes through a transformation like yours! Mine was a division passed along by a friend a few years ago and the best I can say about it so far is that it appears to be settling in.

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    1. Just managed to get the sunrise before it faded away.

      The Kumara looked stressed during the drought, but it has come back strong the past two good rainy seasons, and bloomed pretty well. It does not get any irrigation, only rain (when it rains I hope hope hope we get a rainy season).

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  6. Whoa - that agave is MASSIVE! So very fabulous. And the Aloe is incredible, as is your sunrise.

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  7. How amazing is that agave ! .. makes me think of the old scifi "The Body Snatchers" for some reason ?LOL .. Those sky shots are simply gorgeous .. and I see such character in those Koi !
    Colour fades so quickly .. it is so rare that I can catch it , you did VERY well indeed !

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