Hi, folks!!! I see most of you guys are in California. I am in Philadelphia. Ok...I have only seen aloe blooming once here...and it was yellow like in the photo shown. That guy had his aloe for 15 years...and had gotten a million babies all over his house. He gave me two babies and I lost one and was about to lose the other but gave it "benevolent neglect" and it is doing fine. First question...how does one get the aloe to bloom??? Second question...I saw pics from S. Africa where there were many varieties of flowering aloe. What's with that?? How are conditions different??? Ok...let's see what help we can get on this!! Hope you guys are up for the challenge. Gardenbud, Faye

Jeffery, I'm by no means gifted with portland. But I made some decent looking steps in a pathway for a customer one time. The gravel or rock was added to the portland and poured into the frame. It was leveled with a wet one by. Once it was almost dry/set, It was wet down with a light spray from a hose and lightly brushed with a soft bristled broom. Then lightly wet (almost misted) again to take most of the fine bristle strokes out of the portland allowing the rock to be exposed nicely in the design. I would recommend doing a very small batch to see how it looks if you are tempted to try this method. randy

Hi Deanna, Its probably the heat more than the drought that is affecting them (though I'm guessing here since neither is a good thing). Orientals aren't as heat tolerant as Asiatics and and sometimes do better in part sun (4 hours direct sun) rather than baking all day if you have hot summers. Are they in full sun, (or even hot afternoon part sun) and how deeply are they planted? Planting deep would help them get additional moisture through stem roots and it would also keep the bulb cooler. Ditto for mulching. After the spring "slug season" a good organic mulch helps retain moisture and keeps the bulbs cool. If hot, dry summers are standard for your area, you might want to amend the soil when you get a chance. Turning in a lot of good organic stuff (I use shredded leaves, leaf humus and peat moss) will help the soil retain whatever water it gets. -Helen

'Nuccio's Bella Rossa' was my thought also. It is known to have a long blooming season. A lovely camellia, Virginia