Waxing Florid

Flores suculentes

It’s already about half done and we have yet to see April’s showers. We’ve had drizzle, a little fog here and there, and plenty of toupée-shifting winds … but no rain. Should we assume May’s proverbial flowers will be no-shows? I can’t worry about that. Because whether they show up next month or not, my garden’s awash with hot-hued blossoms right now. Here’s a short list of my succulents in bloom …

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From left: 1) A small rusted metal hand sports a corsage of tiny blooms from an echeveria; I love how they look like little flames against the dark metal. 2) Bead-like hot pink buds of hesperaloe are lashed behind. Twice as long, I had to cut the stalk down to fit into the picture. 3.) Tiny chili pepper-shaped buds dangle from the stem of a hybrid gasteria I had given up on. Seems it wasn’t dead after all! 4.) Waxy orange trumpets crown the branches atop an aloe stalk like upside-down chandeliers. 5.) Lastly, a spiked branch from a crown of thorns ends in greener-than-green leaves and a quartet of cherry-red blossoms … each splitting into identical halves like cells dividing, with a nucleus between.*

*I recognize that this last observation is a bit florid, but it’s Spring. And, too old at this point for the season to turn my fancy to thoughts of love, it waxes hallucinogenic instead!