If the QE were alive, it would have grown out in April and bloomed in June. By now or soon, with appropriate water and disease protection, it would be blooming for a second time this year. If there are some non-blooming shoots coming from the base, these are of the rootstock variety and not Queen Elizabeth.

Ann, I checked back the list of crosses you made and found that the bloom in my first photo has some characteristics of Charisma. On the list, I found you have "Charisma X ?"... Could this be it? Xuan

I live in NYC. I have to admit, pretty much everything I have in the ground that I spend time growing really is marginal at best. The only plants I grow in the ground that I actually see around here is a Crape Myrtle, a Fig, a Camellia, coneflowers, and an eastern prickly pear. All the rest are tropicals planted in the ground for the summer, or palm trees planted in the ground all year long (and then my potted tropical plants also!). I really like brugs because they are so easy to store indoors! I forgot I had a brug for most of the winter and then I found it behind my other plants. I gave it some water and it started growing leaves within a week. I dont think I have many other tropical plants that need such little care during the winter! I want a greenhouse very badly, but living in NYC means that space is a big problem, so all my plants go in the house and its getting pretty crowded. I think my least favorite time of the growing season is early April and mid October for the same reason as you (plus my yard looks pretty bare until about late June). I was happy to see my Frostproof gardenia blooming again today (second bloom of the week), and since its planted next to my brugmansia, they both work together to make the side of my yard EXTREMELY fragrant at night! I was taking a few pics of the plants tonight and as soon as I got within 20 feet of my Brug, I smelt it! Im definitely planting more in the same spot next season! I dont think I would complain much about living in a zone 10. I would probably have spring bulbs growing in the dead of winter (and storing them in their own fridge or something for the rest of the year) and the tropicals would of course be outside all year long! It would be like a vacation every time I walk into my yard (without the worry of having to bring them inside every winter and the wait until July for them to start getting really lush looking). I think there is only 4 months of the year that I can say my yard looks very lush and tropical, but its all worth it! -Alex

The only thing I can think of is to fertilize. If your Aloes are already blooming for you, they probably don't need more sun - the cure for an Aloe that doesn't bloom at all. You could give them something a little heavier on the P & K, like a 2-10-10. Phosphorous encourages blooms while Potassium helps a plant to function properly - like taking vitamins. To put it VERY simply: Nitrogen = power Phosphorous = fertility & root development Potassium = health These ingredients act in concert for a healthy plant, like eating a balanced meal for us. However, like us, plants don't only require 3 elements to survive. I like to add micronutrients to my fert because there are other things (like carbon, sulfur, magnesium, copper, cobalt, sodium, boron, molybdenum, and zinc) that are also important. I also add vinegar to my fert mix - about 1 teaspoon/gallon - which raises the PH and helps immensely in the absorption of nutrients. Careful though, too much vinegar will create bloated plants. All of that being said, many plants are on a very strict blooming schedule out of necessity. If plants in nature have any hope of reproducing, they'd better do it at the same time! Many mesembs bloom on the exact same day/days all over the world, without a second chance. So, you either feed you plants right and cross your fingers - or - if they don't bloom together next time, you save some of the pollen from one plant in a glass jar in the freezer. I assume we're talking about cross-pollination. That's all I got. You may already know this stuff.