Aloe Acquisitions

Over the last month, there has been a few additions to my Aloe collection.  At the last Oracle Gorge Nursery sale, spotted a couple of nice-looking new varieties that I was able to bring home.  Haven't had time to get any of them into new pots.

Really liked the pale coloration of the Aloe pictifolia - it almost appears to have a been lightly coated with a thin whitewash.

On the other end of the color scale is the bright green Aloe juncunda.  This variety tends to remain small and grow into a mounding cluster. 

Another couple of "additions" weren't new Aloes - but were instead new Aloe blooms.  For the Lace Aloe (Aloe aristata) , this is the first time it has bloomed in my garden.  The stalk has a definite curl to it which straightened somewhat after a watering.

Most of my Soap Aloes (Aloe maculata) are actually planted in the ground, but one specimen is actually contained within a pot - and is blooming for the first time (all of my in-ground ones are growing and recovering for our past severe winter).

In our ongoing drought and heat (so far every day in August - except one - with a high temperature over 100 degrees), Aloes are certainly a plant variety that does well.

Flower Power: GBBD August 2011

May Dream Gardens invites everyone, on the fifteenth of the month, to share the blooms found in their gardens.  With our ongoing heat & drought, flowers are pretty rare in my garden.

Established Plants

Water plants account for almost all my blooms.  The Water Poppy (Hydrocleys nymphoides) has taken over the pond and puts out plenty of its yellow blooms.

Rising high above the pond surface, the Aztec Arrowhead (Sagittaria montevidensis) has a nice cluster of brilliant white blooms that shine in the filtered sunshine.

Potted Plants

Only a single bloom remains on the Ground Orchid (Spathoglottis plicata).  Its small cluster of purple flowers has been fading, but at least this one is still hanging in there.

Flower Wannabes

The berries of the American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) are just starting to change from green to their deep purple color.

Be sure to visit May Dream Gardens to see what flowers are shining in other's gardens.