Plants I'm Growing: Aloe polyphylla

Aloe polyphylla is a fairly hard-to-find aloe variety prized for its large spirals of small leaves (its Latin name means 'many-leaved'). I have two, one doing poorly, the other very happy. Watering the garden this morning, I was thrilled to see that the larger of the two appears to be very happy, indeed; it's preparing to flower. It has developed a large cluster of buds.  I've never seen this variety in flower before. Looking forward to it... 

Wines I'm Making: Grapes in Bloom (May 17, 2013)

The grapes in the yard are now in bloom. "In bloom" seems too grand a description--grape flowers are small, green, and inconspicuous--but the plants are, indeed, blooming. Each little spidery flower will become a grape later in the season. This year the weather has been cool and dry and we anticipate no rain in the coming week, so I'm hoping fruit set will be good. The photo shows Cabernet Sauvignon flowers.   Notice the small bunch on the right that is still just buds. The white powder on the leaves at left is sulfur, sprayed to prevent mold. So far, I've sprayed twice this year.

Wines I'm Making: A Dilemma

Finally, the weather has cleared. It now seems safe to say that summer is here and that the chance of further rains is negligible. Time to spray the grapes again with sulfur to prevent mold from forming on the plants. With that in mind I went out to inspect the small vineyard out back yesterday and was both happy and dismayed to see that the vines are in full bloom (grape flowers are not much to look at, but without them there would be no grapes and no wine). The problem is, spraying the vines while in bloom runs the risk of seriously reducing fruit set. That's to be avoided, but the vines do need protection. I've decided to wait, however, as the weather remains fairly cool, there is still some sulfur on the vines (not ALL of it was washed away by the rains), and there has been a decent breeze the past few days. I will wait until flowering is finished to spray. I hope that will prove to have been the right decision.