More buds than blooms today. We've had some wonderful warm days over the past month, but fairly cool nights. Perhaps that has slowed down the Aloes.
Many flower stems, most all of them still developing.
Climbed the ladder to get a photo of A. thraskii:
The flowers are even higher on 'Hercules':
Way up there:
Just appearing on A. ferox:
Further along on the white A. ferox:
A. van baleni farther along still:
One of the two A. capitata hybrids I grew from seed a long time ago. This one still hasn't flowered. It's not getting any supplemental irrigation. It lives on rain alone:
The other seedling gets some irrigation, and has three stems:
Way up there:
Just appearing on A. ferox:
Further along on the white A. ferox:
A. van baleni farther along still:
One of the two A. capitata hybrids I grew from seed a long time ago. This one still hasn't flowered. It's not getting any supplemental irrigation. It lives on rain alone:
The other seedling gets some irrigation, and has three stems:
A. chaubidii--did it flower last year for the first time? I'm not sure. Seems like it did, the flowers emerging tiny, but expanding.
Aloe taurii doesn't flower every year. It has two stems this year, one just emerging:
A. rubroviolacea puts on a huge slow. Nine stems this year. They open very slowly over months, not weeks
'David Verity' is still a relative youngster in the garden. Not quite open yet.
A. suprafoliata doesn't have the tidiest flowers:
The leaf tips have reddened in the cooler weather, so it is quite attractive anyway:
Tough to get a photo because of lighting, but A. capitata var quartziticola has two stems. Got a shot of one stem:
A. hardyi not open yet either:
Nor is A. cameronii:
Close is A. candelabrum. Side sweep of the foliage is cool:
That's about all the Aloes for now. Other random sights that caught my eye, including a few more roses.
Aloe taurii doesn't flower every year. It has two stems this year, one just emerging:
A. rubroviolacea puts on a huge slow. Nine stems this year. They open very slowly over months, not weeks
'David Verity' is still a relative youngster in the garden. Not quite open yet.
A. suprafoliata doesn't have the tidiest flowers:
The leaf tips have reddened in the cooler weather, so it is quite attractive anyway:
Tough to get a photo because of lighting, but A. capitata var quartziticola has two stems. Got a shot of one stem:
A. hardyi not open yet either:
Nor is A. cameronii:
Close is A. candelabrum. Side sweep of the foliage is cool:
That's about all the Aloes for now. Other random sights that caught my eye, including a few more roses.
'Pink Gruss an Aachen':
'David's Choice' Abutilon rising through a Hydrangea that has grown much larger than advertised. Old flowers turn burgundy, middle-aged ones are pink, new ones are white:
'Rouge Royale' . This one smelled heavenly:
Chopped back and fertilized a few weeks ago, Salvia 'Mystic Spires Blue' is completely refreshed:
A lovely gift left behind by a Praying Mantis--an egg case that will open next spring, with tiny Mantis emerging and scattering through the garden.
The Mantis seem to always lay their eggs near roses. Do they sense that aphids will be there for their children to feed on when they are born?
'Rouge Royale' . This one smelled heavenly:
Chopped back and fertilized a few weeks ago, Salvia 'Mystic Spires Blue' is completely refreshed:
A lovely gift left behind by a Praying Mantis--an egg case that will open next spring, with tiny Mantis emerging and scattering through the garden.
The Mantis seem to always lay their eggs near roses. Do they sense that aphids will be there for their children to feed on when they are born?
'Julia Child':
The guys who mulched the west slope in...October? also (on my request) cut the Russellia clumps to the ground. The Russellias are growing back, and flowering again:
This one is a shrubbier form:
Kalanchoe beharensis has multiple flower stems this year. Again, no flowers open yet. The fuzzy tan flower stems are the showiest--the flowers themselves are very small. They attract many bees, but are not showy.
Shrubby Senecio vitalis has very un-showy flowers as well, but pollinators, especially tiny native butterflies, love them too:
There's Aloe lukeana on the lower right. It has not flowered yet. I think it doesn't get enough water. It gets no irrigation and survives on rainfall alone. Aloe marlothii in top center background; its flowers emerge just as Aloe ferox's finish up:
I wonder if Agave parrasana has finished flowering, or if there are more stems yet to emerge?
Early this summer I chopped this volunteer Lavender down to the ground in preparation for digging it out. The heat arrived, the removal didn't get done, and the Lavender grew back.
The guys who mulched the west slope in...October? also (on my request) cut the Russellia clumps to the ground. The Russellias are growing back, and flowering again:
This one is a shrubbier form:
Kalanchoe beharensis has multiple flower stems this year. Again, no flowers open yet. The fuzzy tan flower stems are the showiest--the flowers themselves are very small. They attract many bees, but are not showy.
Shrubby Senecio vitalis has very un-showy flowers as well, but pollinators, especially tiny native butterflies, love them too:
There's Aloe lukeana on the lower right. It has not flowered yet. I think it doesn't get enough water. It gets no irrigation and survives on rainfall alone. Aloe marlothii in top center background; its flowers emerge just as Aloe ferox's finish up:
I wonder if Agave parrasana has finished flowering, or if there are more stems yet to emerge?
Early this summer I chopped this volunteer Lavender down to the ground in preparation for digging it out. The heat arrived, the removal didn't get done, and the Lavender grew back.
It fooled me. Thank you!
Grevillea 'Superb' just keeps flowering.
The Gerberas are waking up:
The Leucadendrons are reddening up:
The Hellebore I got last week is budding up:
And the summer's last Marigold, despite it being December, isn't giving up:
Grevillea 'Superb' just keeps flowering.
The Gerberas are waking up:
The Leucadendrons are reddening up:
The Hellebore I got last week is budding up:
And the summer's last Marigold, despite it being December, isn't giving up:
So I guess I won't, either. Happy blooms to you all!
Ah, gorgeous. It's hard to believe we're in the same state- your garden is weeks/months ahead. The aloes are looking pristine and Hercules is stately. I love Russellia. That agave looks nuts, how great!
ReplyDeleteIt's a big state, 900 miles long. That's big. :)
DeleteOh, thank you, thank you, thank you for the roses. I miss mine so much! The Aloes and other plants are fascinating, too. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteHappy to have them to share photos of. Cheers, Beth!
DeleteYour Aloes put on a spectacular show! And the very fact that you have some roses in bloom is remarkable in my view. I cut my Salvia 'Mystic Spires' back as well but it hasn't recovered as yours did; however, I'll cross my fingers and try to stay patient. That Agave parrasana bloom stalk is almost scary.
ReplyDeleteI give the 'Mystic Spires Blue' a good dose of fertilizer and water right after a chop back--it makes recovery much faster.
DeleteYes the parrasana stalk is very bold. It's been interesting watching it flower--behavior a little different from other Agaves.
The immense size of 'Hercules' is very impressive and I love the orangey blooms. Funny you need a ladder to capture them, though knowing your knee is strong enough for the climb is reassuring.
ReplyDeleteThe 'oh-so-slow' progress of Aloe blooms is a lesson in patience, I suppose. Is it slower than usual?Partially due to lack of rain?
Looking up the west slop in photo 28: it captures a grand vignette of the revitalized Russellias agains the agave and yellow blooms beyond: so good!
Chavli
The "tree" Aloes now sometimes known as Aloidendrons can get pretty tall! The flower stems seem to be appearing and developing slower than usual. I should look back at previous year posts to see if that is true or not. Temperatures more than rain might the issue.
DeleteShould have tried a Russellia photo from the ladder, but didn't think of it. Planting Tagetes up on the slope seems to have been a good idea. I hope the 50 Narcissus bulb foliage emerge eventually as succession interest.
Now that is dedication - to climb a ladder to get a proper photo for the blog. It's astonishing how many aloes you have once you list them all in one place. The A. cameronii with the aeonium against the concrete backdrop is very dramatic. What a nice way to display their form that might otherwise have been lost if they were posing with a bunch of other plants.
ReplyDeleteI got the ladder out anyway to trim the 'Cara Cara' orange tree, so it was not extra effort. I thought those flowers deserved a good photo.
DeleteLearning to use the walls as a feature--it has taken me time but as you say, it can really show off the structure of a plant. The plants actually showed me the way--I'm too clueless to have thought of that myself! LOL.