Happy New Year!

I am happy to be able to report that the aloe did indeed make it into flower for the New Year, at least in the sense that the bottom three florets - of the couple of dozen or so - have opened up, revealing orange tipped stamens but what looks like a yellow interior. So I win the bet.

Current thinking is that the florets are not going to open up in the way, for example, of the buttercup used in school biology classes. More like, albeit much smaller than, the florets of foxglove.

The dud leaves, one of which is visible top left, with another smaller one at the bottom of the snap, are scattered along the entire length of the flower stem. It is not clear whether they are floret buds which did not make it or what.

We may bet on the maximum number of florets up and running at any one time.

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