Mondo Aloe

Well, again, I don't have anything exciting to add... spent today trying to get some of the yard in order. I'm afraid that with my schedule and everything happening, that it's all gotten a little out of hand.

There is a small, suposedly decorative brick wall in front of my house... I usually find it more annoying than anything else, but I do have 3 plastic planters on top of it, which I usually plant with marigolds or portaluca... for some reason, this spring, I had an aloe that someone gave me, and it had two off-sets, so I stuck 1 of each in each pot. I also put in some cuttings of Stapelia gigantea.

I then proceeded to ignore them. This is actually rather easy, as behind the wall are tall bananas, cannas, and a mexican fan palm, and I'm afraid that pretty much all of them threw their leaves over the wall and the pots... and I'm one of those out of sight out of mind people.

Evidently, the bright shade was just what the Dr. ordered for these guys though... My one 6 to 8 inch tall aloe turned into a monster over the summer

(you can barely see the stapelia in the pot behind the plant... )

the offsets grew up, and they all produced more off-sets... so everything is now uprooted...

well, a lot of the off sets I'll pot up in styrofoam cups and sell at the flea market for a buck or two, depending on the size. The grown ups will go in a bucket with fall leaves around the roots, will sit in a window, and pretty much be allowed to go dormant until next spring.

Same with the Stapelia. I know... I'm supposed to pot them up and baby them... but that's how Grandma did it and she never lost one... so, there we go...

Well, the neighbors have evidently learned...

It seems that all my neighbors have learned that if they set a plant out by the side of the road on trash day, that I'm going to pick it up. So they might as well just give them too me... Speaking of which, the rescued banana plant has started to grow and has put out it's first rather impressive leaf...


BTW - disregard the overgrown grass in the photo... that's the neighbors problem.

So, a lady down the street is downsizing into an apartment, and evidently will not have room for her plants... at least they're succulent...

First off, some sort of aloe. I have aloe vera here and that's it. Not a genus I've paid a whole lot of attention to for some reason. Anybody out there wanna give me a clue? And the pot, cute as it is, is a little too cute for me... not to mention that I'm just not sure that an aloe looks entirely comfortable in a pot that has daffodils on the side of it.

Next, a rather nice sized, though possibly etoliated, Chamaelobivia 'Rose Quartz' Now, I already have one of these, sent to me by Aiyana at Water When Dry, (see her blog to the right) and I'm going to have to find something besides that danged nursery pot to put it in... but it's a nice enough plant.

And this is some sort of Euphorbia, which is really in excellent shape. Again, I'm going to need a clue folks...

And I must say, I like this plants spiraled stems... but I don't know how big it's gonna get. For some reason just looking at it makes me think it could turn into a monster...

And finally, and probably in the worst shape... This Echeveria gibbiflora hybrid. Well, that's what it says on the faded sticker on the side of the pot...

He's definitely seen better days. I'm tempted to lop off the top and reroot it, and then let the leftover stalk resprout new plants. That's usually what I do with overgrown and etoliated Echeverias. I'm going to have to do some research on the plant though... a lot of this genus survives our winters outside, but I'm under the general impression that this one won't. Not sure though, I can't be expected to remember every detail of every succulent out there, can I?

So, these are my new additions... what do you think?