Bloomin' Aloe

2Summers | 5 May 2011
johannesburg melville birds melville koppies lucky gardens trees nature reserves weather flowers nature aloes

I’m leaving town for a few days and probably won’t have internet access. Before I go, I want to share a few recent pictures from the garden at the Lucky 5 Star.

Before moving to South Africa, the only aloes I’d ever seen were aloe vera plants – droopy house plants that people keep around for when they burn themselves.

Here there are hundreds of different kinds of aloes, ranging from small, cabbage-sized plants to massive trees. I’ve also recently learned that aloes grow tall, flaming orange blooms in early winter.

This is my favorite aloe in our back garden – Joe says it is an aloe ferox. A couple of weeks ago it sprouted conical-shaped blooms.
The aloe is shaped like a curved palm tree. The Melville Koppies are in the background. I took this a few days after the first picture – you can see that the blooms are starting to get taller.
Closeup on the same day. It had rained the night before so the leaves are covered in water droplets. The flowers remind me of sea anemones.
Taken yesterday when the blooms were standing nearly straight. They are a bit straighter this morning but I don’t want to bore you (any more than I already have) with another photo. Sunbirds, which are similar to hummingbirds, love to drink nectar from the flowers. I saw one flitting around but couldn’t get my camera in time.
I have no idea what these stunning flowers are and neither does Joe. There are several bunches of them in the garden. They never open any further than this. Any ideas?

I’m excited about our trip but sad to be leaving aloe ferox and the upside-down mystery flowers.

See you in a few days.