More Bees Please

As I wandered the garden this morning I noticed the bees buzzing around the Aloe flowers. These flowers are really mostly spent, but don't tell the bees that. It was interesting watching them climb right into the little tubes and then back out bee-hind first! You must click the pictures to really get the detail.

Early March Morning

I have a thing for early mornings- I just love that part of the day. I feel cheated if I miss the sunrise so I rarely sleep past dawn, usually getting up by 4:30 or so. Early mornings are my time for catching up on work and email and watching the sun come up. I thought the sky was particularly beautiful this morning.

The Aloe is finally blooming under- and around the little Cholla.

And the Hyacinth bulbs I planted last Spring came back for another lovely show.

What do you do with your early mornings?

Whats wrong with the Aloe? Mites!

I wanted to post an update about the weird growth on my Aloe. A kind visitor to my blog emailed me and sent me a link that describes this condition. The cauliflower like growth is actually caused by an Aloe Mite, also known aloe wart mite or aloe gall mite. It is a Eriophyid mite known as Aceria aloinis (Keifer). The growths are called galls and they are caused by the mite injecting a chemical into plant tissues during feeding causing the plant tissues to grow abnormally.
The recommended solution is to remove the infected parts of the plant, and put them in the trash. Since this Aloe really doesn't belong in the bed it is in, I am going to pull the whole plant and trash it. I sure don't want this spreading to any others. I am so glad this plant is a loner- and the clumps of Aloe in the big area look fine.

Bye-bye Mr Aloe plant!

Spring comes early in Arizona

I am so excited that February is here- and Spring seems to be as well. Walking around the yard I find so many things budding out and coming up. I have spent some weekend time, cleaning out the flower beds, of dead leaves and other debris, and there is always something new going on. The temps are reaching the 80s the next couple days so I am crossing my fingers that we don't get a late frost after this quite mild winter.

This Periwinkle vine didn't die back at all with the cold, although I did throw a rug over it on the very coldest nights. It has little lavender blooms and is growing fast with the warm weather.

And my salad bed is recovering from the rabbit attack. Here is a teeny tiny little broccoli head! I will be just thrilled if this gets to any size without another rabbit visitor eating it. I should come up with a way to cover it during the night.

And my lone Aloe from previous posts, didn't ever bloom, but the bunch of Aloe that live under one of the small Chollas are sprouting buds all over the place. They are silky smooth- soft like velvet. They are not open yet but are beautiful nonetheless. The plants though have dried tips- I wonder if it was the cold, or not enough water?

And just a little "puppy love"- Miss P gives one of the puppies (Moon Pie) a kiss!


Happy February 2009! Welcome Spring.....(I hope) ;)

What in the world is happening to my Aloe?

The buds that were forming in my Aloe never did open. It got down to freezing a couple nights, and although I didn't expect that to make a difference, it seemed to kill the buds as you can see in this picture below.

However the really weird thing, is what is going on under the bottom leaves of the plant. There is a huge mass of something just exploding out the bottom, right under a leaf that got clipped off. There is also a thin strip of the same stuff on top of one leaf- which is visible in the top picture.

This Aloe was never planted properly, it got left in this spot, and just started growing into the ground. When I realized it had taken root, I added dirt, and left it where it was, but maybe that had something to do with this weird growth? Has anyone ever seen anything like this before?

Bloomin' Tuesday: An interesting Agave

I am not sure what kind of Agave this is. I thought it was similar to some that is growing in clumps at the base of one of my small Cholla, but those are a reddish color this time of year, and this particular one has remained a greenish blue, in spite of the lowering temperatures. I recently noticed that it seems to have pushed out an interesting looking bud.

The little Hydrangea I planted last summer has turned an interesting reddish color with the cold weather. This plant had blue flowers and is one that will have blue or pink flowers based on the acidity of the soil. I am not sure how hardy these are here in Arizona, but I have high hopes for flowers next Spring.

My little Parodia cactus is blooming again- for at least the 3rd time since I purchased it last spring. Each round of blooms has been about 4 flowers, that open one at a time.

And the bougainvillea just seems to get prettier with each passing day. And to think I was ready to pull these plants out and put them somewhere else. I guess they just were not ready to bloom until Fall came. I was a little concerned at my placing the lavender one between two red ones, thinking the bloom colors would clash, but in fact I think they are gorgeous together! Against my white house they really add some lovely color. I am going to have to learn how to prune these correctly though, so they grow somewhat up the house, and not so much out into the driveway. They are thorny plants for sure and pruning isn't easy.

The little Snail Plant from my post last week has the one opened flower and 3 buds growing fatter each day. I sure hope they all bloom before it actually gets cold enough to freeze them here.

Happy Bloomin Tuesday! To see other posts and to join in yourself please visit Ms "Green Thumb" Jeans.