Aloinopsis rosulata
Aloinopsis rosulata is closely related to A. rubrolineata, but it is found a little farther south, near Steytlerville and Willowmore. Its red-striped flowers are very similar in appearance, but its leaves are smaller and more spoon-shaped, with rounded tips as opposed to the trowel-shaped leaves of A. rubrolineata. It likes plenty of sun and very good drainage.
-Brian
Tag: ruthbancroftgarden
Cheiridopsis acuminata
Cheiridopsis are found in the western part of South Africa, and also in the south-western part of Namibia, in dry places where the rainfall is mostly in winter. This one is Cheiridopsis acuminata, from the Richtersveld in the northwest corner of South Africa. Like many of its relatives, it flowers during winter. The usual flower color is yellow, but our plant at the Ruth Bancroft Garden has very pale petals, nearly white.
-Brian
Aloe branddraaiensis
We are having a great year for aloe flowers at the Ruth Bancroft Garden, helped along by mild temperatures as well as gaps between episodes of rain. This planting of Aloe branddraaiensis, from northeastern South Africa, is putting on its beat show ever.
-Brian
Hakea lehmanniana
This plant in the Protea Family is relatively new to us at the Ruth Bancroft Garden, and it is putting on a fine floral show for the first time this winter. The flowers are blue-tinged, and it is sometimes called the “blue hakea” (in some plants the blue is more pronounced than seen here).It is native to Western Australia in the winter-rainfall zone, and it seems right at home here in the Mediterranean climate of California.
-Brian
Templetonia retusa
This is another outstanding shrub from Western Australia, widely distributed in coastal areas in the southwest part of the continent. Up until now it has not called much attention to itself, but it has suddenly burst into flower and wowed everybody. Not only is it a showy bloomer, but it also reportedly is cold-tolerant enough to endure winter temperatures down to the low 20′s F (-6 C), which could be advantageous in winters colder than this one. It is a member of the Pea Family (Fabaceae).
-Brian
Aloe ferox (salmon-pink form)
Aloe ferox is a widely-grown species, both in its native South Africa and in other parts of the world. Its sap is renowned for its medicinal properties, but gardeners love it for its attention-getting candelabras of flowers in winter. Red-orange is the most common flower color, but it comes in a wide array of other hues as well, including the salmon-pink seen in the accompanying photos. The narrow edging of white at the mouths of the flowers show it to be the eastern form of the species, formerly known as Aloe candelabrum.
-Brian
Agave potatorum
Some Agave species become gigantic, putting out offsets like mad and wearing out their welcome for those who don’t have large amounts of land for them to colonize. However their are others which are more modest-sized and self-controlled, such as Agave potatorum. This species has neat bluish rosettes about 2 feet across (60 cm), and usually does not make offsets. Like other agaves, it sends up a tall stalk at maturity, coming into flower before dying. This is one of the species with a branching flower stalk, and the flowers are held in clusters at the ens of the branches (the lower photo shows the cluster at the end of one branch). It comes from southern Mexico, in the states of Oaxaca and Puebla. It is certainly a beautiful species, although its cold tolerance is limited and its flowers are not as colorful as some other kinds.
-Brian
Haworthia reticulata
Haworthia is related to Aloe, but these are smaller plants with less conspicuous flowers. The tremendous variability of their leaves, with lines and spots and ridges and translucent “windows”, makes them very popular with collectors. The name “reticulata” means netted, and refers to the way that the lines on the leaves go both lengthwise and crosswise, making a net-like pattern. This plant comes from east of Cape Town, in South Africa’s Western Cape Province.
-Brian
Lachenalia punctata
Lachenalia is a genus in the Hyacinth Family (or, in a recent re-classification, in the subfamily Scilloideae of the Asparagus Family). These are bulbs from the western part of South Africa (with some spill-over into adjacent Namibia) adapted to winter rainfall and dry summers. They begin to grow with the arrival of rains in the fall and continue through the winter, eventually going dormant as things dry out in summer. Lachenalia punctata has long been known as Lachenalia rubida, and is usually grown under this name, but recent research shows that the name “punctata” applies to the same species, and was actually published a few years earlier, so it has priority. The name “punctata” means spotted, and refers to the speckling on the flowers, which can be seen in the close-up photo. It has longer flowers than most other species in the genus, adapted to pollination by sunbirds rather than by insects.
-Brian
Iris unguicularis
While bearded irises make a big show in the spring, Iris unguicularis kicks things off much earlier, coming into flower in the latter part of the fall. It is native to the Mediterranean basin, and can be found both in North Africa as well as Greece, Turkey and Syria in the eastern Mediterranean. Though not very tall, it is very free-flowering. It often has paler blue flowers, but the selection pictured has deep purple-blue flowers. It does very well in the Mediterranean climate of coastal California.
-Brian
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