Aloe Species

I refer to Aloe rabaiensis as “Kenya Aloe”, since it apparently has no common name in English. It grew for me well in Cannes, France...Read More, as well as here in Ft Lauderdale for 12 years so far. It is one of only a dozen or so Aloe species which will perform well and bloom in Ft Lauderdale’s subtropical/tropical 10b climate, and is definitely one of the more ornamental species. It’s leaves can reach 3 feet long, and it’s toothed margins are softer and less vicious than other Aloe species (eg A thraskii and A. excelsa). It’s sap will dye your skin and clothing an indelible saffron/turmeric yellow. It readily clumps to form colonies (eg ringing the bases of trees), and in cooler dryer months the leaves will change from their bright, healthy green color to an attractive deep maroon-aubergine. It is a Spring Solstice bloomer here, and sometimes produces blooms in other seasons, which are a pastel coral pink- orange buds opening to pastel yellow blooms. It does occasionally contract Aloe Cancer (ie mites) but not badly so, and is very easily controlled by removing infected parts. My source was the same French Riviera grower the Grimaldi’s used for their nearby “Jardin Exotique de Monaco”. To wit, it is one of the species not contained in the collection of Fairchild Tropical Gardens, and their horticulturist never responded to my email offer to donate some for free to their Aloe collection.

Large pale green to yellowy colored aloe with multiple stems and great yellow to red-orange, branching flowers. Has nice color variation...Read Mores throughout the year. Great landscape aloe for larger areas (forms large colonies many feet in diameter and plants can grow up to 6' tall). From Kenya, Tanzania and Somalia.