Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Azure Gate Flowers




Yesterday, I walked around our Bed and Breakfast with camera in hand just to photograph some of the colors. Today, I'll show you a few of the agaves and aloes that are in bloom. Most of the agaves like the top photo of the Octopus Agave bloom just once in their lifetime. After about 8 to 10 years they throw up a stalk in a matter of a couple of weeks with beautiful yellow flowers. The stalk is about ten feet tall. We have a great many on the property, so it looks like we have put up "flags" for our guests. After a month or so the flowers start dropping off and are replaced with polyps. The polyps grow on the stalk into baby plants (even with roots). We then plant them in small planters until they are mature enough to be replanted in the ground somewhere. We learned this was a requirement, otherwise the javelinas would eat them. The other three photos are of various aloes which bloom yearly. Their stalks are more pliable and typically three or four feet tall. These are the ones the hummingbirds love as in the photo below:

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