First winter-blooming aloe in our garden

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While there are aloes that bloom in the summer, I associate their flowers with winter. Our climate is mild enough to allow us to grow a wide variety of aloes outside. The most common winter bloomer in our area is the soap aloe (Aloe maculata) but the first one to bloom in our garden is the Cape speckled aloe (Aloe microstigma). I bought our specimen years ago at a UC Davis Arboretum plant sale and it’s been thriving in the ground ever since.

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Aloe microstigma

This year’s flower stalk is getting taller every day, but it hasn’t quite opened up yet.

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Aloe microstigma

At a time of year when so many plants are going dormant, it’s wonderful to see others—like aloes and aeoniums—waking up from their summer sleep to provide much needed texture and color during the drab months of the year.

Comments

  1. outlawgardenerOctober 26, 2012 at 11:16 AM

    Sigh...so wonderful to see aloes growing in the ground. You're very lucky to live where you do.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mark and GazOctober 26, 2012 at 1:53 PM

    As the provenance of a lot of Aloes are in the southern hemisphere, perhaps that's why most of them flower in the winter?

    These winter flowering aloes can certainly bring some cheer in the autumn and winter :)

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