Nothing can compare to the early morning air with aloes as your companions.

Aloe species a succulent can form tree-like aloes or clump forming aloes, join in todays #wednesdaywalk with Hive account@tattoodjay informative photographic stories wherever you live in the world, today for the first time combined every 3rd Wednesday of the month #makemesmile with Hive account@elizacheng hosting.

Winter flowering Aloes product copious amounts of pollen and nectar, suited to where they originate from Africa and Madagascar, with many species indigenous to South Africa in a wide variety of climatic conditions, a hardy plant with high drought tolerance.

Aloe barberae

Indigenous South African Succulent - Aloe Tree findings in medicinal usage from bark, leaves and roots, validated use in commercial herbal products by South African communities and small scale farmers to treat various conditions.

Lofty it stands among the highest trees in our local library gardens. grayish rough bard, deeply channeled leaves with whitish teeth on margins, here in orange warming my heart knowing insects and birds will feast through the cold months.

Let's zoom into flowers perched high against blue skies, make me smile there are bees in town! All these photographs taken using auto zoom at the time on my Cannon PowerShot SX160 IS, walk the flowers had already bloomed with change of climatic conditions a little earlier than normal.

The grey trunk with a Black-headed Heron strolling through the park while enjoying his walk with mole hills all around, everything is alive and well walking above and beneath the ground.

Next is manual photography from walk with my Cannon PowerShot SX730 HS, learning as we go, hopefully finding the right description with 400 different species in South Africa alone! So some revealing succulent photography coming soon.

Aloe ferox

Known as the bitter aloe will grow 2-3 metres in height, leaves arranged in a rosette, old leaves remain after they have dried making a petticoat on the stem, unless the gardener removes them.

Spike-like head of many flowers ranging in colour from yellowy-orange to bright red depending on the region. Being a warner area our plant flowers normally during June, will flower later in colder places in-land.

Aloe ferox or better known as the bitter aloe is most famous for it's medicinal qualities, with bitter yellow juice found just beneath the skin is has been harvested for hundreds of years.

Aloe lump is used mainly for laxative properties, also taken for arthritis, many medicines contain bitter aloe in pharmacies. Gel-like flesh inside the leaves is used in cosmetic products and is reported to have wound-healing properties.

Nature gives us more than we realize with plants being able to assist us using natural remedies. Birds eye view of a bee collecting it's daily treat out of the bitter aloe flower.

Krantz aloe, Torch aloe or Aloe arborescens

Another native to Southern Africa forms itself into a dense shrubby bush, flowers are usually red depending on location may be yellow or orange.

This plant is going to have to be moved, reminder to self another plant in the wrong place it going to spread, loves our coastal area attracting birds, butterflies and bees in the early winter months.

First photo is the plant with bloom starting to form in a cone like cylinder of neatness! Love the greens displayed before the flowers start appearing.

Next up is about halfway through flowering with old blooms folding back down into a form of protection on the stem which is quite firm.

Playing with the sun and bees busy harvesting from the bloom, it appears there is some pollen stuck on the one leg, just having lots of fun!

The ancient Greeks, Romans and Egyptians were all familiar with the phenomenal medicinal properties of aloe, as were the Khoisan in Southern Africa.

The Khoisan’s medicinal plant knowledge was part of their oral tradition, while the early Greek physician Dioscorides recorded its properties in his world-renowned book titled ‘De Materia Medica’ (The Materials of Medicine). Source

Thank you for joining me enjoying nature in our part of the world, have a wonderful week, keep walking, keep smiling, life is short enjoy each moment!

Thought for Today: " There are many colourful flowers on the path of life, but the prettiest have the sharpest thorns." ~ African proverb

@joanstewart

Life is a pleasing tapestry, share it on #wednesdaywalk with Hive account@tatoodjay

Try and get out once a week for a short walk, can be from your office, home or anywhere really and walk for a few blocks or a few minutes looking for things to get shots of.