Let's burst into 2009 with two flaming hot beauties guaranteed to bring a glow to the coldest January – pyrostegia venusta, the flame vine, and aloe arborescens, the red hot poker. If you're really daring and looking for impact, try planting them together and things will really sizzle for you!
Pyrostegia venusta will probably be better known to many of you as bignonia venusta – one of that striking bignonia family. In Spanish it's called bignonia de las llamas. It's native to Brazil, Paraguay, and Bolivia where it is known as flor de Sáo Joáo and it is one of their most stunning climbers. In tropical areas it can become dramatically invasive, smothering everything within its reach, but here it is simply large and beautiful.
It is a woody evergreen climber, to around 10m, clinging and twining by means of tendrils. It's a dense green backdrop for much of the year but it's now that we really notice it, for this is no shrinking violet! The whole vine becomes a curtain of thin flaring orange trumpets held in large heads which completely smother the vine. As a winter warmer it's unbeatable – try it
weaving through chain link fencing or climbing up into a large tree.
For it to perform best, give it a slightly sheltered spot, out of a cold wind, in fairly decent soil and full sun. It may take a year or so to settle down but growth should then be rapid and it will flower from very young. It becomes drought tolerant and will withstand temperatures down to around zero or a degree or two under in dry conditions. Give it plenty of space to develop and stand back and admire that brilliant sheet of flame.
Our other flamer is the aloe arborescens or red hot poker aloe. A succulent, this has the third largest distribution of any aloe and is found in most of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi. It is also probably the most cultivated aloe in the world. It is one of the few that will grow equally happily at sea level or up to about 800m, often found growing on rocky outcrops and exposed ridges, tolerating temperatures down to around -5C. Being a succulent it is drought resistant; it may shrivel a little during very dry conditions but will flesh out again with rains. It has very attractive grey-green toothed leaves arranged in symmetrical rosettes with stout, striking red poker flowers now and lasting for many weeks. The flowers are full of nectar which attract, in their native habitat, hummingbirds. I love to watch the bees busily working the flowers and chirpy birds hopping from one poker to another.
Aloe comes from the Greek alsos, referring to its bitter tasting juice and the Latin arborescens means tree-like, referring to its branching habit. In the wild, it can indeed reach tree-like proportions through its habit of piling rosettes. In our gardens, it won't reach such a size and these young offshoots can be carefully pulled off and transplanted. Leave them to dry and callous for 24 hours before planting into a sandy soil. Equally, you can sow the seeds into a sandy compost and keep them on the dry side. Rotting off can be caused by overwatering, especially with young plants.
The Zulus dry the leaves and pound them into a powder as a protection against storms but many tribes also used its medical powers. Like its close family member, aloe vera, the gel found inside the leaves is a great healer, though to a lesser degree, for all types of burns and wounds and is anti-bacterial, anti-carcinogenic and anti-ulcer.
It was traditionally used as a stock-proof barrier around South African kraals and it does make an excellent and impenetrable hedge as well as a splendid accent plant with its stunning pokers. Plant it in front of deep green cypress hedging, against a hard blue sky or try that wonderful combination – the flame vine and the poker aloe.
May 2009 be good to you all.
Lorraine Cavanagh has lived in Spain for over 22 years; a mother, grandmother and hispanista, her passions are plants, the environment, food and drink, and travelling within Spain. A landscape gardener and writer, she's always happy to give advice.
Call and see her at Viveros Florena, near Cómpeta – have a coffee and cake in their tea-rooms. Opening hours Tuesday-Saturday, 10-4
Her book Lorraine Cavanagh's Mediterranean Garden Plants has been nicknamed 'the bible'. The new edition at €24.90 is now generally available throughout Spain.
Tel: 689928201
E-mail: florenaspain@hotmail.com
