more aloe buds Our winter is an exciting time with at least 80% of our aloes blooming from late fall to early spring. The real thrill is when a rare aloe blooms for the first time and buds are visible on our Aloe sabaea from Yemen! I have not seen this aloe in bloom except on a picture. Buds are also showing on Aloe rubroviolacea, also from Yemen and I have not seen it "live in bloom" either.

The raceme is often mentioned in describing aloes, it is the part of the stem on which the flowers are attached. The length of the raceme change the image of the flowering aloe a lot.
Directly below is Aloe mitriformis with a very short raceme.

Variations occur in this aloe - below is a longer raceme.

The buds of Aloe mitriformis on the left has just passed their green phase. This is the stage in the development of the flowers that I find the most attractive of this aloe, before it changes to the flowering shape on the photo right. Aloes tend to vary in the same species.  The raceme is longer which space the flowers wider apart. The new bud can be seen on the right bottom of the photo on the left. It is obvious that the flowers will not be densely packed. However, that is not the only difference, these flowers are wider apart but much longer than the Aloe mitriformis flowers above - and how do you like those open flowers! The curling of the pedals are so charming. The bees do not have a problem pollinating these narrow long flowers as the nectar flow down and the pollen is also right at the opening of the flowers. The stigma will appear after the pollen is gone, most aloes are not self-fertile.

This is a lovely hybrid of Aloe petricola X Aloe speciosa. Aloe speciosa is obvious in the flowers and buds and Aloe petricola is prominent in the size and shape of the plant. A. petricola is not quite 50 cm high and Aloe speciosa is a tree aloe reaching 3 meter easy. This hybrid plant is just under 50 cm.

 The many flower buds of Aloe speciosa are packed so tight that the raceme with buds feels as hard as a rock. Compare the buds of this aloe with the hybrid above - The buds are much alike but Aloe speciosa buds are very dense. The raceme with flowers on the photo above is 40 cm long.
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What is the meaning of the word "cola" - The lovers of the drink need not answer.....
It means "inhabiting or dweller ". petri (from petros) = rock + cola would be ... rocks/stones .. inhabiting stones.
There is also an Aloe arenicola which grows on the west coast and it is a sand dweller.

Aloe framesii in bloom for the last time ?

Visiting Aloe framesii in bloom each winter and Aloe mitriformis each summer, was on our agenda every year for at least ten years. Aloe framesii blooms the same time as an assortment of winter flowering plants on a small hill in StHelena Bay.

StHelena Bay is on the south western coast of South Africa, where Vasco da Gama landed all those years ago, in his search for the southern point of Africa.

The outings to this quiet bay were always refreshing, but now there is a large wound in "our" hill! That is only the start, the whole hill has been cut up and sold for luxury holiday homes. The sea shore has been bull dozed together with many plants - mesembs, stapeliads, caudiciform plants, euphorbias and more. I do not expect propress to come to halt or something like that, but could Nature Conservation or some other organization not contact plant lovers to remove those plants first ? They fine people for removing plants, but bulldozing? Having said that, I am not going to shout around. My motto is if you do not like it, do something about it, or keep quiet. To tell the truth, I do not have the motivation to organize something so that plants could be saved in future. The people of this country seems to have so many problems, nobody wants more on their shoulders. There may be an energetic nature lover reading this blog who is willing to take on the challenge.

Looking down on progress. Many jobs are created and a lot of people need that badly. If I think of children and families having a better life then it eases the loss.







Aloe framesii in bloom. It is a lovely blue aloe. In the summer when all is dry it seems to merge into the blue granite rocks. In winter it needs to be seen by the pollinators and the flowers show off well.






Aloe framesii center front shared this hill with Aloe mitriformis to the back left and right. Aloe mitriformis blooms early summer and Aloe framesii blooms in winter which enabled the two species to grow side by side without hybridizing.