Sun Torches

Torches

This weekend’s weather forecast promises chilly temps, even rain, for Riverside. But last weekend was a different story: While very chilly morning and night, it was warm and bright during the day … So, we took advantage of this with a visit to the UCR Botanic Garden, our mission to view their collection of aloes while they’re in full bloom. My love for aloes is all-encompassing, no matter the time of year. But the sight of them in bloom — in the heart of winter — never fails to amaze and delight me, stirring thoughts of primeval or otherworldy landscapes. This day is no different: with the sun blazing and the air still chilly mid-morning, we’re treated to the gorgeous sight of aloes of every shape and size thrusting torches of hot color skyward. It’s strange but I feel like I have to rush to take these pictures, for fear the blooms will fade and disappear if I don’t hurry … So, clambering up hillsides and veering off DG paths, I catch the fire …

Heat

Emerging from within giant spiked rosettes, torch flames swirl toward the clear blueness …

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Curved

Hot-heads of bright red-orange curve out from the shadows to get their share of the winter sun …

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Gaggle

Like a mob of villagers tearing down the hill, this clump of flame-wielding aloes is truly in-your-face …

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Golden

Incendiary gold spikes flicker from within the blue-gray leaves of a cracked-trunk tree aloe …

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Towering

Standing high atop a hill, several wizened aloe sentries wave their firebrands threateningly …

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Sparklers

Lower to the ground, but no less hot, these yellow blossom spikes seem like freshly lit fuses …

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Licks

Like ground-fire, these delicate-leafed, low-growing aloes burn vividly yellow …

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Illuminating

Even in full shade these fiery orange blossom-spikes are flame-throwers …

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Sizzle

Vermillion-tipped yellow spikes blaze and sizzle in the open sun …

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Silhouetted

The UCR aloes are South African natives, which explains why in their presence I feel transported to somewhere else … Aloes may flourish here and are familiar parts of our landscapes now, but they definitely retain a sense of their exotic, foreign origins … And I love them all the more for it …

Height

Leaving the garden we look back and notice what are probably the tallest aloe trees we’ve ever seen. The Rancho’s aloe trees seem tall in their setting but compared to these giants they’re stunted! Maybe one of our UCRBG chums can tell me how long they’ve been growing here. The UCR aloes in bloom are truly hot stuff!

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BLOG TIP: Recently, I was searching around the web for pictures of South African aloe trees and came across a terrific blog devoted to these terrific succulents. Called My Aloe Garden, it’s full of photos and information about the most amazing aloes, many of which I’ve never seen before. Blogger Eurica, and husband Rudi, cultivate and grow aloes, hybrids, and other succulents from their home in Moorreesburg, a small town 100km north of Cape Town … they even sell the seeds and export plants! Click here for Eurica’s Aloe Garden. It’s a fascinating look at aloes growing in the land of their origin.