aloe spikes | Far Out Flora

Fiery Aloe Spikes

January 12, 2012 by Matti | 22 Comments

Aloe arborescens - Krantz Aloe

The Aloe arborescens are going crazy down in Pacific Grove, CA. One of the best spots to see these blooming succulents is along Ocean View Blvd. Take a stroll along the coastal path from the Pacific Grove Marine Gardens Park over to Hays Perkins Park…you won’t regret it. (Update: Sounds like the parks are mislabeled and should both be considered Shoreline Park. Thanks Katie.)

Aloe arborescens - Torch Aloe

Aloe arborescens goes by a lot of common names such as Torch Aloe, Candelabra Aloe, and Krantz Aloe to name a few. Common names are often descriptive such as Torch for its red flower spikes or Candelabra for their large leave rosettes. But the common name Krantz Aloe puzzled me. Turns out, it comes from the Afrikaner word, Kransaalwyn, which loosely translates to rocky cliff. In habitat, these succulent Aloes thrive in rocky ridges from sea level…all the way up to high mountain elevations. Seems the largest concentrations of them are found in southeastern continental Africa.

Aloe arborescens along Sunset Dr in Monterey Bay

Having some fun with the iPhone, we stitched up a Hipstamatic of that same Aloe clump. One thing we did notice was how stressed out the Aloes where still looking. The lack of rain this winter has kept the foliage looking redder than limey green.

Aeoniums in Bloom

The hiking trail meanders on for over a mile right next to the water. Frolicking down the footpath, we found a number of Aeoniums blooming too. Man, love those yellow conical clusters.

Matti and Max

Max the Border Collie got to stretch his legs too; the place is pretty dog friendly as long as you keep them on leash. Oh, check it out. Besides the Aloes…the Echium candicans (Pride of Madeira) were popping their purple spiky inflorescence. Aren’t those a fab combo?

Echium candicans & Aloe arborescens

Echium candicans - Pride of Madeira (syn. Echium fastuosum)

Echium candicans (syn. Echium fastuosum) produces oodles of little flowers on their bloom spikes. Great plants for attracting pollinators. If you’re ever down in the Monterey Bay area, we highly recommend taking a detour to this garden path.

– Far Out Flora

Big Blooming Aloes

April 13, 2011 by Matti | 6 Comments

Aloe blooming with bird.

We caught some amazing Aloes in bloom down in Huntington Botanical Gardens at the beginning of the year…wow 2011 is flying away. We weren’t the only ones freaking out on these blooms, so were the birds as pictures above.

Aloe suzannae.

This guy from Madagascar, Aloe suzannae, pops out creamy tan flowers. Pretty bizarre foliage too.

Aloe in bloom.

Aloe blooming.

Need to get ourselves an Aloe that sends up yellow inflorescence. To date I don’t think we have one yet.

Aloe dorotheae.

Sunset Aloe (Aloe dorotheae) is a low growing, stiff leaf plant that can get a bright reddish orange when grown in the sun. I believe the more stressed it gets, the deeper the reddish color.

Aloe

Here’s a cute hybrid which has a fun name, Aloe ‘Tingtinkie’.

Aloe ramosissima.

Maiden’s Quiver Tree (Aloe ramosissima) can grow in a small tree about 5 ft tall. Similar to A. dichotoma, the guy is supposed to be more branchy. Like well drain soil and grows in rocky areas in the wild.

Aloe dichotoma.

We just saw this guy, Aloe dichotoma, at Flora Grubb. Another Quiver Tree, which I heard that locals back in the day used to hollow out the trunk and get it wet. The fibers can hold a lot of moisture and the evaporation causes cooling. Thus, it became a makeshift refrigerator.

Aloes and Aeoniums.

Ah, love the Aeoniums with the Aloes together. Since it’s been several weeks since these pics were taken, can’t say they are still in bloom mode yet. However, recently we picked up a guy that flowers in the summer and can wait to see if it will shoot out some cool color for us in a couple months. Hey, if you looking for a fantastic Aloe resource, check out the Institute for Aloe Studies. They have one of the most complete sites on Aloes.

– Far Out Flora

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Aloes and Aeoniums.

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Alice Keck Gardens

January 3, 2011 by Megan | 11 Comments

Alice Keck Park

Just blocks from the main drag of State Street, Santa Barbara there’s an awesome park called Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens. Besides the ponds full of koi, turtles and patches of lawn…the place is loaded with some sweet ornamentals. Talking about coolness…this place is so hot that there’s a cultivar named after it, Aeonium ‘Alice Keck Park’.

Alice Keck Memorial Park

Fall color coming from their Ginkgo biloba turning yellow. All the plants in the garden were selected for their low water use and because they grow well in Santa Barbara. Oh, and bonus….it’s a dog park too! (on leash only). BTW, we want to give a shout out to the friendly dog people in the park suggesting a couple off leash dog beaches.

Monarch butterfly

Aloes spikes

Seems like winter is here because the Aloes are in full of spikes. The Aloe below is a bit of a mystery. It’s a climber (here’s another pic of one we saw), but have no idea what it is.

Climbing aloe

Tegetes lemmonii ?

The plants weren’t marked, but believe that the top is a Tegetes lemmonii and Oxalis below.

Oxalis sp?

NOID

Last one, we would really love some help IDing this one. We don’t recall seeing anything like it before and really wanted it. Thick succulent stem, fleshy leaves like a begonia, leaves max were about 4-6 inches wide, grew about knee to hip height. Help.

– Far Out Flora

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Gardening in the Outerlands of San Francisco

Tag Archives: aloe spikes

Fiery Aloe Spikes

Big Blooming Aloes

Alice Keck Gardens