Sparaxis explosion inward Marta's succulent garden

My friend Marta, whose beautiful succulent too rare fruit tree garden I photographed inwards December, emailed me piece of cake final calendar week to allow me know her aloes were flowering. Needing a pause from the torture of doing our taxes, I headed over inwards the early on afternoon on Lord's Day to come across what's going on.

I was prepared for blooming aloes but I didn't know I'd hold upwards finding this:

An honest-to-goodness explosion of sparaxis all over Marta's forepart yard!

Sparaxis, or harlequin flower, is a genus of flowering bulbs inwards the iris household unit of measurement endemic to South Africa's Cape Province. There are thirteen species, alone a few of which are typically establish inwards cultivation. Most mutual are hybrids betwixt Sparaxis tricolor and Sparaxis elegans. 

Marta remembers planting "a few" Sparaxis bulbs years ago, too over fourth dimension they receive got spread all over her forepart yard, both past times multiplying but to a greater extent than importantly through seed. As yous tin come across inwards some of the photos below, seedlings are directly growing inwards the cracks betwixt the pavers (as, incidentally, are seedlings of Echium wildpretii, aka towers of jewels).

The sparaxis, too a few other spring-flowering bulbs, furnish brilliant pops of color inwards betwixt aloes, cacti too agaves.

They don't bloom long, mayhap a few weeks, too the leafage dies shortly afterwards. But the overall resultant is brilliant too cheerful--the paradigm of springtime.

How tin passers-by non grin when they come across this!

As for the aloes Marta emailed me about, many of them are inwards flower, too.

Aloe cryptopoda (aka wickensii)

Aloe cryptopoda flowers

Aloe marlothii; Marta said the tips of the flowers rotted because of the excessive rainfall we've had, but there's all the same enough of inflorescence left

Marta also has some large aeoniums, both close her forepart door (left inwards the photograph below) too every bit yous walk into the backyard (right). They are seedlings from a flora she owned many years ago.

In the backyard, the commencement affair I noticed was this collection of pots, many of them fruit tree seedlings:

More photos of the backyard:

Anemones planted precisely final fall

Aloe broomii (left)

Aloe marlothii

Since this Aloe marlothii e'er blooms late, its flowers are non damaged past times frost

Kumara plicatilis (left) and Aloe ferox (right), with a perfect Agave victoria-reginae in the lower right

Aloe ferox

However, what made the biggest impression on me inwards the backyard is this tree. It's inwards amount bloom correct now. It's non a mutual sight inwards Davis. Guess what it is? It's a 'Mexicola' avocado! Last twelvemonth Marta had "only" almost 100 avocados; this twelvemonth she's hoping for a lot more. At to the lowest degree a one-half dozen other avocado varieties are grafted onto the tree nether the protection of the canopy.

Back inwards the forepart yard, I couldn't resist; I precisely had to accept a few to a greater extent than photos of the sparaxis inwards amount bloom alongside the succulents.

As I was taking photos, Marta casually pulled out a handful of sparaxis bulbs too handed them to me every bit I was getting cook to leave. I set them inwards a pot for directly but I await to presently receive got my ain sparaxis spectacle.

Thank you, Marta!

Sumber http://www.succulentsandmore.com/