If you interest, next year will be published a book about Grass Aloe by Charles Craib (the author of Geophytic Pelargoniums), Umdaus Press. You can book it by the web pages of Pen Rock. My best regards. Alberto Grossi Italy --------- Initial Header ----------- From : pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org To : pbs@lists.ibiblio.org Cc : Date : Fri, 26 Nov 2004 19:17:17 EST Subject : [pbs] Grass Aloes are "sort of" bulbs > Hi, > > Some aloes are deciduous in the wild, growing in summer rainfall areas and > dying back in winter. They are typically hardy (as aloes go) for 2 reasons: 1) > the top dies back and the root behaves like a bulb, and 2) they typically > come from higher elevations. > > I am growing several species of these "grass" aloes and have found the, so > far, to be easy and durable. They are not "bulbs," but because they die back to > a perennial rootstock; because they leaf out in warm weather and have such > wonderful flowers, I think of them as bulb-type garden plants. > > I purchased seed from Silverhill seed about 2 years ago of A. cooperi, A. > ecklonis, and A. myriacantha (apparently these are the more easily found > species). All of them should be hardy down to 15 F, and some are reported hardy in to > zone 7. > > I'm not sure what is a grass aloe and what is a bulb aloe, but they are > similar; it is my understanding that both are deciduous-but I'm not sure. I think > that bulb aloes actually make a more pronounced storage organ. The leaves of > grass aloes are succulent. Here, near Houston, TX, the 3 species from > Silverhill germinated easily indoors under lights (room temperature), and grew > easily. They really enjoyed our hot Texas summer, and the rain-never seeming to get > too much water or sun. They responded well to fertilizer and really seemed > to enjoy it when I moved them from seedling pots/media into a 90% mineral mix > (30% lava rock, 30% perlite, 30% coarse sand, 10% humus). They are about 20-24 > months old now and I've potted them up several times. I plan to keep to or 3 > of each type and find homes for the extras. > > Last year I protected them from rain during winter; they never got bone dry > due to splash and spray but the leaves mostly died down. This year I will let > them stay out in the garden, in 1- or 2-gallon containers over the winter. > Perhaps if we have mild frosts again they will remain evergreen or perhaps they > will die down. > > They are such strong growers that I'm hopeful some will bloom next summer. > If nothing else I want to try their pollen on the other aloes that tolerate > Houston (e.g., maculata, arborescens, striatula). > > LINK: Aloe cooperi page at Plantzafrica.com > http://plantzafrica.com/plantab/aloecooperi.htm/ > > LINK: Aloe striatula page at Plant Delights Nursery > http://plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/… > > Oh yeah, I sure would like to find seed of more species of grass (or bulb) > aloes; if you have some to sell or trade please contact me. > > > Cordially, > > Conroe Joe > ConroeJoe@aol.com > 71 F high today in Conroe, TX: 55 F predicted for overnight low > humidity: 85% at 6:00 p.m. > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > Alberto Grossi Italy ____________________________________________________________ Libero ADSL: navighi gratis a 1.2 Mega, senza canone e costi di attivazione. Abbonati subito su http://www.libero.it/