Friday 3 February 2012

Aloe from Abu Dhabi with Love

and with lots of good intentions, stamina & hope!!
The Aloe Vera grew in abundance in my friends garden/courtyard. He said its equal to a weed out there. So many huge tumblers full of the wonderful prickly stemless succulent plant. As my friend will be moving home in July I asked if I may have a wee rooting from his plants, he said of course.   Not quite so hot as the Arabian desert but with a bit of luck & some TLC :) just maybe the wee cutting will take.
A week after our crazy schedules since our return, so many things to do, so many unexpected things to do too I've eventually remembered about this poor cutting stored in a moist piece of kitchen roll , wrapped in a plastic bag in the front zip of my suitcase :(  Bless its little succulent Soul .
Here it is in all its glory in photos taken in Abu Dhabi.
Actually whilst I'm in the photos, here's some lovely other photos of some plants in my friends garden.
this was the gorgeous tree the beautiful white flower belongs to
this beautiful shrub looks stunning & vibrant.
 Close up the flowers look as if they're made by tissue paper
Bless this lovely life, here's his Aloe Vera now . .
Suggestions please how to plant, in what & any advice or tips on how to help this beautiful succulent cutting survive & grow.  Suppose I should show some of the palms & the little distinctive shaped trees of such arid land. Hoping some were Frankincense but not too sure.

Of course think its only right to add the Grand Mosque at night & day :) Not particularly good photo's  taken from a moving car but the essence I think is still captured .  Enjoy xXx

5 comments:

  1. I believe aloe plants are indestructable! Plant it in a pot and keep it inside for now, Paules. Try and give it a window with some light and if pieces get too limpish, like the cells have exploded, just cut them off. Even if you have to snip the tips of all of them, new shoots will still pop up and the plant will keep growing:) Trust me, it is the ONLY plant I have in the house and has survived my neglect or accidental unpottings from the kitties for years:) lol!
    Those white flowers with the yellow centers from that one lovely tree, just look so gorgeous and soft, and smooth:) Did you happen to take any of those lovely pink ones home, pressed between pages of a book?
    Thank you so much for sharing these pictures. It will be the closet I ever get to this country, I am certain! I am way too far away.I like the fact you have pictures of the Grand Mosque from the car. It really gives me a better perspective for just how large it really is! When I see pictures on tv, or books, they are close up and that makes it hard to really judge the immensity of this gorgeous complex:) Big hugs and many thanks, Leslie xx

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  2. Ah bless you Leslie, thank you soooo very much. I shall do exactly as you've recommended. Do I just use normal soil from the garden?
    The white flowers were stunning, they had the most delicate exquisite fragrance too. Think they were Jasmine? . The paper tissue ones had no smell whatsoever & almost looked artificial. I never thought about flower pressing, used to do that as a child - must do it again!! Thank you for reminding me. Huge hugs to you too :) Thank you for your kind words. :)

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  3. I should think your normal soil would do just fine, Paules!
    Perhaps it was jasmine! Hard to fathom those lovely paper tissue ones with no fragrance! Such a shame! lol! The smell means more to me than the beauty:) You are welcome for reminding you about pressing flowers:) I have just retaken up the hobby myself this last year. I enjoyed it as a child also, and just had an itch to restart:) Big hugs to you dear xx

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  4. Hi Paules - lovely photos. It looks as if what your friend has given you are several aloe vera "babies". You can plant each one in a separate pot - they really like well draining soil, so you can mix half sand and half compost, but I've been terribly lazy these past few years and just stuck them straight in the compost. The babies like quite a bit of water but the general principle is to water like thunder storms - hold them under the tap and drench them, but don't let their roots stand in lots of water for a long time and don't water them again until they are dry. As Leslie said, they are plants which thrive on neglect as long as you follow some basic guidelines. They don't like draughts, so although they may survive a winter in a porch, they will go decidedly grey around the gills if left on a windowsill behind curtains. They are very forgiving - my first ever babies were left without water until they went black and they still recovered once I decided that perhaps black wasn't a healthy colour for them! Don't start cutting the leaves until they are 1" width, but then you can cut and come again every time you burn yourself.

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  5. Oooh thats lucky!! Babies, I removed ones which looked a little separate to the main plant, as I didn't want to damage it plus it seemed more sensible to have an independent growth which may at least stand a chance of surviving on its own. I didn't know its was the main plants babies... aaaw how lovely. They're on a kitchen window sill right now !!!! Will go move them :) Thank you for your kind &lovely comments.

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