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Continuing...a plant for every position
Updated: 24-Aug-2001
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Bougainvillea (top)
Aloe (bottom)
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OBSERVING THIS MAXIM CAN PRODUCE RESULTS YOU
COULD ONLY HAVE IMAGINED IN YOUR DREAMS
1. Bougainvillea (pictured top)
Bougainvillea could be voted the Algarve’s most popular plant by both tourists and residents. This is due to the great shows of colour of the plants’ bracts during most of the year. It is only in favourable circumstances that plants provide all year round colour in our gardens. In many individual cases, attempts to achieve this desirable result end up in disappointment. Not surprisingly, this is due to lack of know-how.
When the plants’ habits and whims are known, it is plausible to allow for these fads when choosing the position – and to be almost certain of the good results to follow. All the Algarve's cultivated forms are clones, which means they are raised from cuttings from the same original plants.
The species B. spectabilis and B. glabra are in cultivation. B. glabra, which is seen in only one or two forms, is identified by its smaller leaves which are more shiny and pointed. Each form of B. spectabilis has its own degree of robustness. In general, the more delicate colours such as yellow and white are the least robust and should only he attempted in suitable microclimates.
The most suitable spot is one which receives maximum sunlight, minimum wind, without rainwater run-off from overhead roofing and with a long downwards root run, with little to no irrigation when established. Ideally, the planting will be against a south-facing wall in a patio with west and east walls to exclude winds from those directions.
The exception is B. glabra 'Alexandre' which can be grown in the open and progressively clipped to shape. The usual method of cultivation is to grow bougainvillea against house walls tied to wire or trellis supports.
Many bougainvilleas have been raised in a peat based soil. Their roots are highly sensitive and they know when they are removed from pots and put into the ground. To counter this, it is an advantage to make a mix of garden soil with abundant peat, together with well rotten manure, and gently place the plants into position within the new mix. It is called 'the contact zone'. This may fool them to think they are still in their pots and avoid suffering from shock.
Their roots are to go down and down. It is a great help to have constructed a stone or white wall floreira around the planting position for elevating the rootball above ground level. This keeps the young roots above the water table and stops them from going cold. A bougainvillea will tell you when it is happy or miserable. It is one of the best examples to give when saying there is a position for every plant. Photograph 1 is a living example.
2. Aloe (pictured bottom)
The subject of aloes is really too large to deal with because there are over 400 species in Africa and Madagascar which inhabit both summer rainfall and winter rainfall areas.
If you take the trouble to trudge around South Africa or even in the remote parts of Madagascar such as the coastal desert around the SW coast or the less extreme areas in the far north such as French Mountain and Windsor Castle Rock, there is always something in common to observe.
It is that they grow in the most arid places, sometimes in the shade of dried up shrubs, sometimes in the cracks of rocks. If you drive up the Namaqualand coast as far as Alexander Bay on the border of Namibia, aloes are one of the last things you see before vegetation ceases to exist in the desert sands. Aloes, it could be said, are the archetypal xerophyte and it is a beautiful race.
No less demanding of dryness are the two big tree aloes you find in the Richtersveld of Namaqualand, A. pillansii and A. dichotoma. The former grows on a hillside at Cornell’s Kop and it is a rare and endangered species. The latter is well scattered over Northern Namaqualand growing on the peaks of well drained hillocks. Both these species are available from time to time, sometimes in the Algarve, but at least around Europe.
In the Algarve, most aloes seen in gardens are hybrids and the species seen are usually A. arborescens. These are plants which are tolerant of being watered along with lawn sprinkler systems and they have grown accustomed to a continuous soaking.
For those who choose to buy different species, the matter of super drainage, sometimes some shading, and certainly very low watering are the crucial factors in seeking their well chosen positions.
Photograph 2 shows some happy aloes seen growing on a wall among junk on the main road outside Estói, where they seem to revel in the west exposure with some shade from a carob tree, thriving without water and on neglect.
• Readers are reminded that copies of previous articles by Garth Merelie published by Algarve Resident are available at the reception of QM garden centre. www.qmgardencentre.com
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