Above: not Aloes
Above, Aloe "vera". Vera is not a species name. This plant has never been found in nature, so it is considered an ancient hybrid, having been known in Roman times. As A. ferox, A. vanbalenii, A. cameronii, and the rest compete their flowering, a new, if smaller, round of Aloes offers a continuation of color and nectar.
A capitata hybrid in transplant stress is colorful even without flowers
Aloe petricolaAloe aculeata hasn't decided quite when it wants to bloom. I've gotten flower stems from this one in summer as well. The plant is mostly hidden behind Agave ovatifolia 'Vanzie'. There are three A. aculeatas on the slope, with a fourth still too small to plant out, plus two aculeata hybrids, also growing so they can eventually graduate to the tough conditions on the slope. The foliage is highly ornamental (and rather nasty sharp). Aloe castanea flowered for the first time last winter. Happy to see it again. The dark bubbles of moisture are actually drops of sticky nectar. Not a flashy Aloe, but elegant. Some scarring on the leaves--was that the recent 90F day we had, or the recent almost-frosty night? Aloe marlothii, the biggest, most grand Aloe bloom stem of all, so close to opening
Only one of the several Aloe striata in the garden (the most pampered), is flowering. It's first.
Other Aloes still too immature to flower may provide a bigger show next year, or the year after that--'Erik the Red', 'David Verity', A. alooides, A. tomentosa, A. taurii, and hopefully some day, A. capitata will flower again. Since removing all of the yellow clumper Aloe of unknown heritage and almost all of 'Cynthia Gitty', the winter Aloe show is not quite as big as it used to be. There are still a couple of 'Cynthias', though, if I decide the flower show is worth controlling the spread of that vigorous hybrid. (Probably.)
Rose pruning, close to complete. Slowing down the pruning were other jobs mixed in, like repairing the irrigation I had to cut to dig out 'Altissimo'
All fixed!
'Iceberg' complete
'Bishops Castle' done. There are three plants and they still had a lot of flowers on them.
A whole lot of flowers
Our mostly sunny dry winter is bad in some ways, but great in others.
'Golden Celebration' is next, and it's a big job:
You have been a busy girl. Love seeing your blooms.
ReplyDeleteAbout time. I've been too lazy. Happy you like the flowers!
DeleteTo be able to grow both aloes and roses outside all year round...sigh! Aloes are one of the few groups of plants that look even when under stress with their red blush.
ReplyDeleteIt's a wonderful place to garden, in many ways. Fortunate I am.
DeleteLove the second to last shot. Oh to be able to pick roses in abundance. Your blooming aloes look great and probably attracting hummingbirds. However, was also admiring your grevillea blooms. Keep wondering how one would do in a pot in my cold climate.
ReplyDeleteVery cold where you are. Grevillea cold hardiness (such as it is) examined here:
Deletehttps://www.desertnorthwest.com/articles/grevilleas_revisited.html
Yes, hummers at the Aloes. A part of the fun of Aloes.
OMG! That photo directly below the words "Our mostly sunny dry winter is bad in some ways, but great in others." is gorgeous!!! I could almost smell the roses...
ReplyDeleteThat particular rose has a fabulous perfume, a mix of old rose and vanilla extract---yummy!
DeleteI'd wondered where you were with your rose pruning. I'm impressed by all the "leftover" blooms you still had. How I wish my 'Golden Celebration' rose would take off like yours!
ReplyDeleteWe got 0.07/inch of rain in the wee hours of the morning but it looks like the storm expected this weekend is a bust, at least here.
Moving and removing a lot of stuff this year, besides doing roses. Hectic.
DeleteThe little GC rose plants I got from Annie's are already sprouting new stems (!!!!!!). Did you get your GC from Annie's? The big one I grew from a cutting the size of a toothpick (long story).
We made out better here, at least 0.15. Most appreciated!
The aloes are stunning as always.
ReplyDeleteI am going to try raising seed for Aloe polyphylla. They are difficult to track down over here and eye wateringly expensive when they do turn up. Apparently fairly easy to germinate and fast growing.. now there's a challenge I can't resist.
Looking forward to seeing you grow polyphylla. Such a glorious aloe! Aloes from seed are easy, you must just control damping-off.
DeleteI saw A. castanea at Berkeley Bot. and have wanted to grow it ever since. There was a plant in the front garden for a while that got shuffled around and then disappeared. I love the burnt orange coloration. And I think I agree about marlothii as winning the most grand award...wow!
ReplyDeleteYes the burnt orange color is particularly nice. Maybe speciosa, or a clump of 'David Verity' as at the Huntington can compete with marlothii, but not many others.
DeleteAnnie's has castanea off and on.
You are an expert in so many areas! The Aloes are really special; what a great collection. And your roses? Wow! Irrigation repairs? Impressive!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure tired now!
DeleteI'm a sucker for Aloe blooms. I'm still waiting for my A. aculeata and marlothii to put up flower stalks - nice to see yours in action. How old would say is the A. marlothii?
ReplyDeleteThanks! I think I planted marlothii from a 6" pot in 2oo8 or '09. It was blooming by '12, I think, a single stalk.
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