Some plant failures just don’t let go. Three tries is generally considered reasonable, but after that? After that, reason doesn’t have much to do with it anymore.
At my local nursery, coming upon a few gallons of the spiral aloe, I had to admonish myself to keep walking. Don’t stop to admire, just keep walking. Walk on by. Even so, I reflexively engage in the habitual process of mentally ticking off pros and cons, as in: That’s a pretty good price, $20/gallon. Remember when a spiral aloe was prohibitively pricey and/or mostly unavailable? Maybe tissue culture is easing scarcity.
And the cons: Remember how this aloe doesn’t appreciate hot, dry conditions but requires impossible-to-meet conditions? Alpine conditions. Cool, moist, but not too wet, strategic drainage. And after multiple attempts, I’ve never had one survive much less do the mythic spiraling thing. Fool, spiral aloes love the Bay Area, not Southern California, so keep walking! But that price…I apologize in advance, little aloe, for the torment you’re about to receive. Unappreciative of temps over 80F is a tricky requirement when yesterday, on February 27, we pegged over 90F…
Other than the spiral aloe and reintroducing shrubs previously grown, Phyllica pubescens, Leucadendron ‘Ebony,’ Alyogyne ‘Ruth Bancroft,’ there’s been no new planting, just working with what’s been surviving the half-year absences. With a few minor exceptions like playing around with an intriguing annual I’ve never grown before, found locally, Isotoma ‘Bottle Rocket Blue’ from Australia. Possibly perennial here.
The Dune Daisy is newish to the garden. I really like the wiry energy and endurance of this little daisy. This is its second year living in a container with other dry-tolerant stuff like the caudiciform Pseudobombax ellipticum.
Several varieties of the South African pincushions have graced the garden in the past. They need sun and lots of room, and those conditions are both moving targets depending on what else is growing. Leucospermum ‘Brandi Dela Cruz’ was planted in 2024 just outside the shade canopy of Grevillea ‘Moonlight’ but getting less than the full-day sun that’s ideal.
Exciting to see the first bloom truss on an aloe labeled ‘Chompers.’ It’s impossible to find a reference for it now. A divaricata selection by Kelly Griffin (or so I thought), I like its relatively lightweight structure, in leaf and flower. A see-through aloe.
Take care. More soon, AGO.