Winter - Fire and Ice

Mid-winter (July) in South Africa and the Aloes flower fiery-red against the white of frost. I've been dreading the frost, as some years it has killed all the flowers in the bud. I do have one aloe (the largest of the three, pictured below, which started flowering last) which doesn't seem to be doing so well, the flowers don't seem to have much colour, but hopefully the flowers will still reach maturity, as long as we don't have any more stints of heavy frost.

My chooks have left large, bare patches all over the garden, scrounging for any available greenery as the lawn is all but non-existent.

Lots of mist this morning, a sign that, albeit cold, the day is going to be bright and sunny!

Early morning caught all the birds patiently waiting in the bare peach tree for the first rays of the sun and the feeding tables to be filled, a daily winter’s morning occurrence. This morning there weren’t as many, some mornings I’ve counted up to 50 before losing track. They mostly consist of Weavers, Laughing Doves, Bishops and Sparrows with the odd Bulbul.

Some say the world will end in fire;
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
~ One of Robert Frost’s most popular poems, published in December 1920 in Harper’s Magazine

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Pachypodium lamerei up-date

My Pachypodium lamerei, which I acquired in January 2009 at only 9" tall, has now grown into a magnificent 53" (1.35m) specimen and he had his first pot change last year in April 2013. At the rate he has grown over the past 18 months, I think he is going to need a new pot early in the new year! But I can't go too big with a pot, otherwise I can't bring him in for winter. A bit of a dilemma... I lost my first one due to the fact that he got too heavy to carry in and was thus taken out of the pot and planted directly in the garden, attaining a height of almost 2m before being killed by one extreme winter we had. At that time I swore I wouldn't get another one, but who can resist a beautiful Pachy smiling at you in the local garden centre?

My Pachy last year November 2013

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This popular Pachypodium from Madagascar, Africa, has a shiny silver trunk covered with long, sharp spines. The trunk may branch out, making it even more attractive. A tuft of long, narrow leaves grow only at the top of the trunk, like a palm tree, and it is also known as the Madagascar Palm. However, it isn't a palm at all, but a succulent from the Apocyanaceae family.
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In the summer, clusters of fragrant, white flowers will appear on mature plants that are grown outdoors. Don't expect it to bloom indoors, unless you can provide plenty of direct sunlight. You may want to move this sun-loving succulent outdoors to your porch or patio for the summer. Mine spends summer in my garden, but just remember to bring it back inside when the temperature drops -- it won't tolerate frost.
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My Pachy in April 2013, just before being re-potted and very top-heavy for his current pot.

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Repot in spring every 3-4 years or when it outgrows its pot. It's a good idea to use a heavy container to prevent toppling. This thick-trunked tree can get top-heavy. Also, be careful of those spines when handling this plant. Wear thick garden gloves and wrap a newspaper or old towel around the trunk when repotting it to protect your hands.
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Leaf drop in winter is perfectly normal. It may even drop all its leaves. But, don't worry. It'll grow more leaves in spring when it gets the sunshine and warmth it loves. When it comes out of dormancy and you see new leaves growing, that's your cue to resume normal watering and fertilizing.
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This Pachypodium can reach 6 ft (1.8 m) indoors, much taller if grown outdoors in a frost-free climate. It does require full sun. Water thoroughly and allow top half of soil to dry out between waterings. In winter, water sparingly just to keep the soil from drying out completely. Plant in a pot with drainage holes to prevent root rot. Cactus mix works well to provide fast drainage. Or you can use 2 parts all-purpose potting mix with 1 part sharp sand or perlite.
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Feed monthly in spring and summer with a balanced liquid fertilizer diluted by half. Sow seeds in spring. Offsets can also be cut away from the parent plant and potted up separately.
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My Pachy in February 2010, a year after I got him.

If you live in a frost-free zone in South Africa, this is a beautiful succulent to consider for your garden. It's water-wise, doesn't need much care and remember not to over-water in winter.

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Aloe splendour

 My aloes (this is Aloe ferox, also known as Bitter aloe) have started flowering and I'm beside myself with joy! Last year I had no flowers, an early frost annihilated the lot just as the buds started. I actually know what the problem is - since I planted them 7 years ago, the trees surrounding them have grown huge, resulting in a lot of shade. So I have two options - cut down the trees (no ways!) or move the aloes to full sun, which is going to be a huge task. As you can see from the photo below, they are very big and I'm not looking forward to this mammoth task. Wouldn't it be easier to lose them (sob, sob!) and just plant new ones in a sunny spot...?





So I'm hoping for no severe frost this winter. They're a bit big to try and cover with frost covers...





This hardy plant is indigenous to South Africa, and with its succulent leaves can survive the harshest conditions. When damaged by man or animal, the plant seals off any wound with a sticky, dark liquid that prevents infestation by virus, fungus or insect. This dark liquid has been successfully used by ancient inhabitants as a traditional remedy for many ailments.


The white inner gel of the leaf has the ability to hold and store moisture through hot, dry conditions and months of drought. Traditionally the local inhabitants use it to soothe burn wounds, cuts and abrasions. Today those same qualities are still the being used in a wide range of moisturisers and rejuvenating creams and gels.





The nutrient rich leaf is filled with the goodness of the earth and contains no herbicides or pesticide making it an ideal source of nutrients and helping your body to cope with modern day living in a gentle and natural way.


The bitter aloe is most famous for its medicinal qualities. In parts of South Africa, the bitter yellow juice found just below the skin has been harvested as a renewable resource for two hundred years. The hard, black, resinous product is known as Cape aloes or aloe lump and is used mainly for its laxative properties but is also taken for arthritis.


The Aloe is winter-flowering and did you know that they flower in mid-summer in France, when it's Winter time here in South Africa? Isn't nature's clock just amazing...?


Camera : Canon EOS 550D


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Echeverias - Nature's wonders

 

My Echeverias are really enjoying the winter sunshine and less watering and have produced some gorgeous little flowers. 

Echeveria is a large genus of succulents in the Crassulaceae family, native from Mexico to North-western South America. Many of the species produce numerous offsets, and are commonly known as 'Hen and chicks', which can also refer to other genera such as Sempervivum that are significantly different from Echeveria. Sempervivums cannot tolerate the heat that Echeverias can, so mine grow primarily in pots on my patio or in the house.

  

Some Echeveria elegans in a pot 

Some Echeverias can mimic Sempervivums very closely so I understand the confusion this causes.  But when in doubt about what genus one has in one's collection, all doubts will vanish as soon as the plant flowers since the two genera have very different flowers. Echeveria flowers are not fuzzy, are often arching and the flowers themselves are quite succulent and bell-shaped. Sempervivum flowers are non-succulent and usually pink with thin, narrow, aster-like petals often on oversized inflorescences.  And if still not convinced, one only need wait for flowering to end, as most Echeverias flower yearly while Sempervivums are monocarpic (die after flowering).

 

Part of my Echeveria collection 

Many Echeveria species are popular as garden plants. They are drought-resistant, although they do better with regular deep watering and fertilizing. Although they tolerate winter quite well, the winter frost here in Tarlton is quite severe and often I take them out of the garden, putting them into pots and bringing them into the house, especially those that have got long stems and are not compact and dense any more.

  

Another section of the garden with a couple of Echeverias 

Echeverias need bright light, heavy soil and excellent drainage. When grown in soil-less mixes, they grow large and lush and lose their colour and character. Many of the plants have a waxy sheen on their leaves. When they are watered over the top, the water collects in drops and spots the leaves when it dries. These spots are especially noticeable when the water is high in minerals. Drench and let dry. Water from below.

  

My Echeverias in full flower 

These lovely plants are moderately fast growers. If your plant begins to show more and more space between the leaves, it is stretching and needs more light to help it keep a compact rosette shape.

 

The lovely pink edges on Echeveria glauca - this one is growing in the shade and the space between the leaves shows it is reaching for more light. 

In general these are inexpensive easy plants, popular mostly because of their ornamental flower-shaped, thick-leaved succulent rosettes and wonderful colours and textures... but their low cost certainly helps, too. Most Echeverias are suckering plants, eventually forming small (or large) colonies of closely growing plants. My original collection started with a few Echeverias given to me by my father in the late 80's. This suckering/offsetting behaviour makes them particularly ornamental pot plants as, in time, most will offset enough to completely fill a pot, often spilling over the edges and making living bouquets of succulent rosettes.

  

Echeverias hanging over pot 

 

 Echeveria glauca in flower

  

Two Echeverias in a pot in the garden 

Camera : Kodak EasyShare C195 

Location : My garden, Tarlton, South Africa. 

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Practicing cactus

(A warning: If you have any propensity towards cactus love to begin with, moving to the desert will increase it exponentially!)

A long-standing passion - a passion most people find utterly boring and something only a cactus-lover will understand - THE LOVE OF CACTUS. So maybe this post is not for you, but if it is, read on!

It all started in the 1980's, when my (well-meaning) father gave me three Echeverias in a pot. I couldn't turn them down and hurt his feelings, but I had NO interest in those three succulents! When I got home, I hastily stuck them in the ground in some far-away corner in the garden, hoping they would disappear.

Echeveria glauca

A few months later I was working in the garden and decided to do something about that 'little lost corner' of my garden. Upon investigating, to my surprise, the three Echeverias had multiplied and there were dozens of them, all displaying the most gorgeous little pink bell-shaped flowers on long stalks. I was hooked! I mean, forgotten and neglected, NO attention whatsoever, yet they blossomed forth with the most gorgeous gifts. I felt so guilty I almost cried!

Now those spiky flat coins and furry ground knobs make me go nuts. Finding a new specie not in my collection is like striking gold - my stomach churns, my heart starts pounding and I just HAVE to have it!

I can spend hours fiddling with my cacti and succulents, removing seedlings and siblings from the garden and potting them in terracotta pots, I have displays all over the house, on various patios and in my garden shed. You'll find them on window sills, tree stumps, on little tables, in terracotta pots, jam tins, glass jars, buckets, cracked coffee mugs, on wooden palettes, on my desk, next to my computer, in fact, anywhere there is a flat surface! And heaven forbid I come across someone selling them at a market stand, I could buy up all their stock!

'They' say "It takes real guts to love a cactus!", but I have found it the easiest thing in the world!

I need to get some more!

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Prickly... (Cactus Echinopsis oxygona) - a Dung Beetle brooch hand-crafted with black glass jewels, silver wire and silver solder, sitting on a little piece of driftwood . bird's nest in Abelone shell (Perlemoen)

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and smooth.... (Echeveria elegans)

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prickly... (Aloe ciliaris)

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and smooth... (Haworthia Cymbiformis)

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prickly... (Aloe ferox)

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and smooth... (Gasteria)

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prickly and smooth... a collection on a wooden palette on my Patio. Rat-tail cactus far left and front right - Old Man's beard behind that, Aloes and Echeverias in metal tub.

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mostly smooth... Gasterias, Echeverias and some cacti on a Vintage Pine table in my Flower Room

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prickly... My latest acquisition - A cactus in an enamel bowl surrounded by four Haworthias and a tiny succulent peeping through the pebbles

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smooth - Echeveria glauca in an old concrete cast

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Pachypodium lamerei 1

My 15-year old 3-meter tall Pachypodium lamerei in the summer of 2005/2006. With fragrant frangipani-like flowers, this barrel-shaped tree exudes character.

My 15-year old Pachypodium lamerei (also known as the Madagascar Palm) suffered many a severe winter here in Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa, to such an extent that it had been frosted down so many times that it eventually had 3 stems. Then in the Winter of 2006, it finally succumbed and died completely, much to my utter distress.

Pachypodium dead after the severe winter

It started off as a baby in a pot, being outside all summer long and brought into the house every winter. It got transplanted into a bigger pot every year until, finally, it was too big to bring into the house and I decided to plant it out in the garden in 2003. Every year it got bigger, rewarding me with those most beautiful white flowers every spring. I was truly devastated when that winter killed it.

Pachypodium flower

I'm not one for replacing plants that get killed by winter, but in January 2008 I broke down and got a new Pachy, and yes, he's in a pot and comes inside every winter! I'm a sucker for succulents, what can I say?!

October 2009 - next to my 'Old Man's Beard' cactus

February 2010 - sharing space with some Echeverias

11th November 2011 - sharing space with some newly-planted nasturiums

He has grown in leaps and bounds over the past 4 years and will soon also have to get transplanted into a bigger pot and DON'T ask me what I'm going to do when he gets too big to be moved around, one step at a time!

Pachypodium lamerei has a tall, silvery-gray trunk covered with sharp 6.25 cm spines. Long, narrow leaves grow only at the top of the trunk, like a palm tree. It rarely branches. Plants grown outdoors will reach up to 6 metres. It has large thorns and leaves mostly just at the top of the plant. It is a stem succulent and comes from the island Madagascar and bears large, fragrant flowers. Blooming time is late spring to early summer.

This plant grows best in warm climates and full sun. It will not tolerate hard frosts, and will likely drop most of its leaves if exposed to even a light frost. It is easy to grow as a house plant, if you can provide the sunlight it needs. Use a fast-draining potting mix, such as a cactus mix and pot in a container with drainage holes to prevent root rot. Water sparingly and do not fertilize. Do not water in the winter months when there is no foliage, for this is what killed my Pachy.

Today Pachypodium consists of about 20 species; five are native to continental Africa and the rest to Madagascar. In Africa they are found in arid areas or in dry situations in Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Mozambique and South Africa (Northern Province, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and Northern, Western and Eastern Cape).

Camera used: FujiFinepix 2800Zoom



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