The back door garden without a lawn.

That was a wise decision.

Way back we reached a point where keeping the lawn healthy

and green became too much of a task. At that point we received

notice of water restrictions - that was the last straw.

We dug up every piece of grass. The photo above was taken

after a few month's work has been done and we already started

planting aloes. June 2005.

This photo was taken in July 2009 from the left side if

compared to the first photo on this blog.

It might help if you look at the tree on the left of the two

photos I am standing next to the tree for the photo above.

The aloes - blooming or not - are much prettier than a

half-dead lawn and the bonus is that we save a lot of water

and work. We do not water at all, the rain is enough.

The scene on this photo is at the opposite side of the tree.

One of the portions we planted first. The aloes are from

left to right:- Aloe ferox x Aloe arborescens, Aloe mutabilis x

Aloe arborescens and Aloe cryptopoda

This planting is on the left side of the tree. A portion

of the rock-wall that I built is visible in the left back.

The aloes are Aloe petricola x Aloe globuligemma hybrids

which Rudi raised from seeds. The close-up below shows

more detail. Rudi planted a group of five plants which

shows off very well when blooming together.

Aloe petricola has an upright raceme and the raceme of

Aloe globuligemma is horizontal. The hybrid plants seems

to be somewhat confused which pattern to follow, but

I am quite happy with that, it gives an interesting effect.

The hybrid seems to come in two colors. Dark orange

opening to yellow and red opening to a creamy white,

both with black stamens. The green style is easier

to spot on the photos.