Looking up into the sky, Yucca aloifolia, the Aloe Yucca, looks to me like fireworks exploding.

Aloe aloifolia Spanish Bayonet, Aloe Yucca, Spanish Dagger; succulent in San Francisco Botanical Garden

Also know as Spanish Dagger, or Spanish Bayonet these particular specimens are growing in the Succulent Garden of San Francisco Botanical Garden and provide a quick lesson of photographic point of view.

Work the shot. Find an angle to tell your story.

Coming into this part of the garden from the path above, the tall succulents present themselves against the trees beyond.

Aloe aloifolia Spanish Bayonet, Aloe Yucca, Spanish Dagger; succulent in San Francisco Botanical Garden

Seeing these mature aloes rising above the garden is a cautionary tale to any gardener who is beguiled by a 1 gallon specimen in a nursery, but I saw fireworks exploding.

The Succulent Garden is wisely planted on a hill to provide the good drainage all succulents need, and there is a pathway circling back under these Aloes, so I could get right underneath them.

Aloe aloifolia Spanish Bayonet, Aloe Yucca, Spanish Dagger; succulent in San Francisco Botanical Garden

Ahhh, now I have found a point of view to show off the fireworks.

Before and After Slider