How to be an Aloe Vera parent:

• Your child needs bright, but not direct, sunlight.

• To grow big and strong, water once a week if the soil is dry. Do no drown it. Fertilize with water-soluble plant fertilizer once a month. You can use fertilizer spikes available at garden centers—very easy to use with no mess. Read the directions.

• Your child likes it outdoors when there is no danger of frost. April 15, put it outside where it gets light and humidity—no direct sun. Continue to water and fertilize.

• In the summer, your aloe will sprout new plants, and you will be a grandparent. Isn’t that sweet? …

My journey with Sonoma Crown of Thorns started as an annual in my butterfly garden about 25 years ago. Of course, being a tender annual, they bought the farm at the first frost. The next year, I kept them in pots and knew to bring them in before the temperatures got nasty. They have been my botanical companions ever since. They spend about 6 months outside around the pool and then another 6 months in my sunroom. In winter, they get festooned with white lights because it amuses me. In the summer, they act as a botanical screen in front of my filter and heater by the pool. For the entire year, they never stop blooming. While I’m not a big fan of thorny succulents, these plants have won my heart. Now for the specifics: Crown of thorns, also known as Christ plant or Christ thorn, is a flowering plant native to Madagascar, introduced to France in the early nineteenth century by Baron Pierre Bernard Milius, then-governor of Réunion, a region in the western Indian ocean. The crown of thorns is part of the spurge family, or Euphorbiaceae, which contains many different species of succulent plants. Crown of thorns are low maintenance, easily adaptable, and can thrive as an indoor plant or outdoors (in USDA Hardiness Zones 9–11)…

During May gardeners work to refine the look of their beds and add containers for accents. In recent years the easy-care coleus, coleus X hybridus, has evolved and deserves attention. There is a vast array of colors, sizes, and leaf shapes available at nurseries. Several new varieties of sun-tolerant coleus are on the market. Besides the striking foliage, many coleus are deeply lobed and have cut margins. Some of the trailing varieties are perfect “spillers” for containers. With all these improvements, coleus deserve the resurgence they are experiencing.

In Zone 7, coleus are annuals that do best with morning sun and afternoon shade. They are not picky about the soil, but good drainage is critical. They perform best if they are watered and fed regularly with a water-soluble fertilizer. Use snippers to remove flower spikes as they appear. This encourages better growth and dense branching. Removing the flowers makes the plant use its energy to produce the dramatic foliage instead of the lackluster flower/seed combination it generates…

I am originally from the Philadelphia area. They have a wonderful zoo and I have fond memories of visiting there when I was young…..but for the reptile house! My sister went to a plant sale there many years ago…probably in the mid 1970’s. She bought a Clivia plant for me, from their collection. So, possibly 45 or so years ago she gave me this plant.  

Clivia is attractive with green strap-like leaves and showy orange blooms in the summer. The bloom time can vary depending on location, but mine bloom in mid-summer.  My plant spends the winter on my glass porch that maintains a temperature in the mid 60’s. I keep it watered and lightly fertilized. At this time of year I move it outside and put the pot on my porch and then I move it to the garden when it is warmer…