by germinatrix | January 18th, 2011
the first aloes of the season are among the best
Get ready PEOPLE !!! (imagine me sounding like Oprah)
The ALOES are starting to bloom!
Okay some of them are already blooming – my Aloe arborescens are contained in a pot on my back porch so they don’t take over the world, and right now the scarlet blooms whose little funnel-like flowers are tipped in purple just make me faint with pleasure. Okay that was a teensy bit hyperbolic, but you get me – they make me happy!
I can’t wait to go to the Huntington this year and have a complete spazz-out among the bloomspikes. I think I’m going to have to go more than once to get the most out of the special spazzy pleasure of seeing your favorite plants in their full glory. Until then, I have to watch my own aloes do their thing.
orange on orange, can't have too much orange!
but if orange on orange gets old, I can just turn to the side and check out orange on blue (with an accent of - orange)
I was SO afraid that I was going to lose all of my bloomspikes in the recent cold weather we had in Los Angeles. We were close to freezing some nights, but the microclimate at my house is colder – I live in the lowest point of a valley, so all of the cold air collects right at my house and wreaks havoc with my precious, beloved succulents. On a couple of nights I stood peering out of the kitchen window, trying to create a bubble of warmth to surround my garden. Thank goodness my plants didn’t need to count on my mental powers – the bloomspikes survived on their own.
my aloe salm dyckiana is getting all grown up! he's spiking now!
I can't wait for my A. arborescens 'Yellow Torch' to light it up!
But wait – Aloes aren’t the only things getting their game on – remember my Agave desmettiana variegata that I told you about on Thanksgiving? Well, she is stretching herself out and pushing out little buds. I can’t help but think of A. desmettiana variegata as a feminine plant – she is such a ballerina; a supermodel. So, even though it is completely in character of all agaves, it is a little hermaphroditic of her to get all erect like this. But it is her nature, who am I to question? I can only sit back and enjoy the show.
the agave bloom gets longer and leaner...
look at those adorable little buds - will they be branches or flowers? stay tuned!
And the show is always so enjoyable – right in my back yard!
XOXO Your Germinatrix
YAY! Your posts on the annual aloe show are the perfect reading for a cold Michigan January. Can’t wait to see whats happening at the Huntington!
Hey Joseph! I am SO looking forward to the Huntington this year – I bet it is going to be OFF THE HOOK! Your intrepid reporter will do her duty by you, my friend! Lots of pics!
Germi, I cavorted amid the aloes at the San Diego Wild Animal Park’s South African succulent garden recently. Gasped when I turned around and saw, yes, a tomentose bloom! And not Aloe tomentosa, which is pale yellow-green. This one was pinkish-gray and looked dusted with frost or flour. I took way too many photos of it (check out my Facebook photo album for Jan 15). Lucky you, to be near the Huntington! I was there one Feb. Aloes as far as the eye can see, all eye-popping.
Orange aloe bloom against that orange wall is beyond fabulous. I love it! I’m glad your aloes came through your recent cold snap. We have another few hard freezes to go before winter ends in Austin, and I hope my aloes will have similar success.
Oranges against oranges, all the shades of green, then topped off with a splash of blue …. wonderful!
I agree, one can never have too much orange.