I was going to do a picture of my hot pink flowering rose with a few ripening oranges in the background. But sometimes you find the best surprises in the garden when you least expect them…
…like in December.
As I was working on finding the best angle of the rose and the orange tree, I discovered this big aloe vera flower stalk growing up through the rose bush.
It’s a secret flower stalk, I suppose.
This aloe plant is in a pot on the patio. It gets a few hours of sun in the morning and late afternoon, which seems to suit it well.
The stalk is about two feet long and has little orange bell-shaped flowers opening along the stem. Or are they trumpet shaped? It is just after Christmas after all.
Hummingbirds like the aloe flowers too.
But back to the rosebud in the winter.
The rose is called Fragrant Cloud.
I chose it to grow next to the patio mainly for the fragrant roses, but the flowers are a beautiful deep, hot pink and fairly large too! I’m glad I planted this one.
I’ve been working on new art for the store, so I thought I’d try an artsy version of the rose for you.
Here is a painted version of this rosebud in December.