Johannesburg - A new generation of plant breeders is having enormous success with creating colourful cultivars of South Africa’s best-known indigenous flora for gardens.
A most successful breeder at the forefront of this pioneering foray into new cultivars is Gauteng’s Andy de Wet.
This winter, De Wet’s exhibition garden at his breeding nursery, The Aloe Farm, on the Old Rustenburg Road to the north-west of Joburg, is a spectacle of colour, with aloes flowering in shades of golden yellow to deep red.
A popular winter destination for garden clubs, the Aloe Farm also showcases a range of smaller aloes for landscaping and a host of new aloe cultivars that have bi-coloured flowers.
Praise for the new celebrity breeders comes from the highest echelons of South Africa’s botanical world.
“Andy de Wet is doing superb work in the breeding of aloes and his new cultivars are just stunning”, says South Africa’s top aloe academic, botanist Professor Gideon Smit.
“His successful efforts to popularise aloes to local gardeners have my full support.”
With a Master’s degree in botany obtained in 1980, De Wet has a proven track record in plant breeding.
Behind the release of Agapanthus “Blue Ice”, he is best known for his new aloe varieties, which include the floriferous miniature Aloe “Hedgehog” and Aloe “Peri Peri” as well as the famous bi-colour flowering Aloe “Charles”, Aloe “Tiger Eye”, the golden-flowering, Aloe “Bafana” and the newly released, yellow-flowering Aloe “Egoli”.
In September 2005, respected horticulturist Quinton Bean joined The Aloe Farm. Bringing 11 years of experience in plant development and selection to the job, Quinton has joined De Wet in the the development of new directions in plant breeding programmes, especially with small and miniature aloe varieties which are favoured by landscapers for mass planting.
“Aloes have been largely overlooked, yet they have enormous potential as garden plants,” says De Wet.
Most importantly, they are water-wise plants and have the ability to withstand conditions of drought. Their foliage is architectural and they flower in winter, which offers gardeners colour at a potentially drab time of the year.
“Our cultivars are drought-resistant but are also well-suited to irrigated landscape conditions”, explains De Wet. “The flowers of all aloes remain tender, but the new cultivars have been chosen for their cold tolerance and many of our new varieties flower outside of the cold season.”
The new cultivars have also retained the wildlife benefits of traditional species of aloe.
“They sustain bees and butterflies and will attract a host of nectar-feeding birds to your garden. Developed through strict trial and selection procedures for several years, the new aloe varieties flower more profusely than species aloes, have more vigour and are generally much easier to grow.”
Varieties such as Aloe “Bafana” are not only vigorous growers and resistant to most aloe diseases, but also flower twice a year, in early winter and in summer.
Tolerant to –3°C, Aloe “Bafana” was launched prior to the 2010 World Cup and needs a sunny corner with rich soil.
Aloe arborescens “Andy’s Yellow” is one of the most vigorous and spectacular forms of the yellow-flowering krantz aloe. Not only do young plants flower early, but this multi-stemmed, 1.5m aloe flowers for up to 10 weeks from May to late July and tolerates temperatures of –6°C in winter.
Aloe “Charles” is one of the most spectacular large aloes developed by De Wet. Its peak flowering time is early July to early August and it has spectacular bio-colour blooms which move from red to white. It can be planted en-masse or provide a spectacular winter focal point on its own.
Many of the new varieties are for small gardens. Aloe “Goldibells” grows to a size of 40cm x 40cm, has grey foliage with purple tones in cold gardens and produces racemes of flowers that range from pale yellow to burnt gold.
Aloe care
How do you care for this new generation of aloe cultivars? De Wet offers these tips:
* Aloes generally grow and flower better in full sun, but will do well in a slightly shaded area provided they are not over-watered.
* Avoid heavy clay and make sure they are not water-logged.
* Even frost-hardy aloes can have their flowers damaged by frost, so choose a variety which flowers before or after the frosts in your area.
* When planting, dig a hole four to five times the size of the root ball. Always dig a square hole and not a round hole to avoid roots going around the edges of the hole in a bathtub effect.
* Water containerised aloes immediately after planting.
* Aloes thrive if fed with a 3:1:5 (Vita Fruit and Flower) or 5:1:5 (Vita Green) from Talborne Organics every two to three months. If you prefer a liquid fertiliser, try Nitrosol, Seagrow or Biotrissol.
Visit www.dewetenviro.co.za.
GENERAL GARDENING TIPS
* Pick early flowering pansies, violas, sweet peas and Iceland poppies regularly to encourage more flowers. Daffodils and narcissi should only have faded blooms removed, leaving the stems and leaves to send food down to the bulbs for next year.
* Need a glorious climber against an east- facing wall? The key to success is to plant a bagged clematis at least 8cm below soil level. This gives added protection from damage to the root area, and in case of wilt, plants are more likely to recover and send out new growth.
* Plants growing in containers have no access to nutrients other than those found in their potting soil. Therefore, feed them regularly with a good balanced fertiliser. A water-soluble fertiliser is best for container plants.
* In winter, deciduous trees and shrubs reveal parts of your garden that were hidden in summer. If the view is not pleasing, or you have lost privacy, screen these parts with evergreen shrubs such as sasanqua camellia, escallonia, conifers of suitable size, evergreen viburnums or raphiolepis. - Saturday Star