Our winter garden for the year 2007 .
The winter garden in bloom with aloes and an enchanting lily endemic to South Africa.

It is a wet winter this year with few sunny days. The disadvantage is that the pollen is wet and pollination is difficult. We had so many new hybrid aloe seeds in mind, but that is life... sigh. The aloes that bloom in winter are from the summer rainfall area where there will be no problem with pollination in winter. Most South African aloes ( 90%+ ) are from the summer rainfall - which is logical as only the western cape has winter rainfall.

I exchanged some lily bulbs and these two lilies were first to bloom. Lovely!!

I am not a botanist - if you have not noticed.
Anybody know what lilies these might be? Clue - they are endemic to South Africa.
Most lilies are so quick to bloom and disappear, but it is exciting to find the blooms
every year, if only they would remain a little longer.

terrestrial orchids companion plants for aloes
The small terrestrial orchid Pterygodium.volucris can grow happy in the same conditions as the aloes in the garden. The name orchid usually goes with pretty or very odd flowers, but not in the case of this small orchid. The flowers are so plain and the same colour as the leaves so that it is easy to overlook them. The plants are neat and they grow very easy.  Pterygodium volucris is from the winter rainfall area so it needs rest in summer and water in winter. It can remain in the ground in a dry climate.

The orchids grow next to the Paintbrush lily Haemanthus coccinius (The two large leaves in photo ) which bloomed a few weeks ago. 

 The Paintbrush lily sends out the flower first( photo below), then the leaves. The leaves measure, each 39 cm long and 17 cm wide. In inches that is roughly 16 inches long and 7 inches wide. I measured them.

The little blue aloe in the top photo is a hybrid growing without any attention. I would have liked to ask it to make an offshoot or two, but it seems that is not going to happen.
The winter rain has started and the dry patches between the aloes are turning green - soon there will be flowers all over. For now we enjoy the green and the anticipation.

The seeds of the paintbrush lily Haemanthus coccinius are so pretty that I would like to show them to you. The fleshy seeds of the Amaryllidaceae family should be planted immediately when they are ripe.

The seeds are placed on top of the soil and pressed into the soil to just below the soil level. I have planted seeds much deeper. It took them some weeks later than the other seeds, but the lilies managed to grow all the way through the soil and I know a gardener who places the seeds on top of the soil and that works too.
That was not meant to confuse you but to relax you - if they want to grow, they will grow.
One point can not be changed and that is the seeds do not last long. They can be kept cool for a few weeks but the fresher the better.
For the growing medium use normal potting soil and add some sand. 1 x sand and 2 times potting mix. Do not desturb the young lilies for at least a year, preferably two years.

I am going to plant the seeds on the photo. It always feels like a waste to throw seeds away and such pretty seeds can not be wasted. Pity it is so difficult to send the fragile bulky seeds or I would have asked who wants them.

The lilies are always welcome in the aloe garden. They remain in the ground during the resting period and appear again each year to brag a little with their pretty flowers.








Ammaryllis belladonna a scented lily endemic to the Western Cape Province, South Africa. The wild lily is as lovely as the cultivated lilies of this very popular genus. It blooms in March and is known by the name Marchlily, which is a pity as what could be prettier than the name Belladonna.
The smaller bright red Haemanthus coccinius (just behind the lilies photo above) is starting to open too.






Haemanthus coccinius. A month early for this lily but it might be the heavy rain shower we had in February that confused the lily. The flower is not fully open and smaller than it should be, but it is welcome all the same.












Four days later and the Haemanthus coccinius lilies are open. It is obvious why this lily is known as Paintbrush.