Aloe Species

Zone 9b coastal Otago

Is this the toughest plant that ever lived? I was given an ugly little specimen and thought it so u...Read Morenlovely that I used it in a hideous series of experiments in an attempt to find out if my other, pretties aloes would survive certain areas of our garden.
It has been sitting in a dusty pile of what can no longer be called 'soil', flooded, entirely covered in weedy overstorey, unwatered, left exposed to baking sun and gales, hail, snow, frozen pretty much solid, and then left to expire in total shade over a long, cold winter. I pulled the weeds off it the other day and saw it was, unsurprisingly perhaps, looking sickly. Not dead, just a little off colour. Feeling sorry for it, I trimmed back the skanky roots and saw lovely fresh new ones coming away in their midst, and that the centre of the plant was still healthy and green. I am totally gobsmacked at the hardiness of this plant, and it's going to take pride of fuggly place in my rockery where it will receive the respect it deserves.
All that said, it's still a pretty unprepossessing looking unit and certainly wouldn't win any pageants. I see the flowers are pretty special, tho', so worth persisting with.

This species is best in the ground near a group of stones in morning sun in the desert. They seem easier to kill in pots for some reason...Read More. The plants flower reliably every spring and have no trouble with the heat. Unfortunately, the plant is very prone to Aloe cancer if grown were the humidity allows the mite to flourish (greenhouses and shade houses).

Plants (2) were recieved in very dry condition, after 3 weeks of semi shade & Texas rain water they are showing very positive signs of gr...Read Moreowth. I'm looking forward to winter blooms, will post pictures & report growth.

smaller plant very slow to sucker if at all. Has blue-green leaves covered with large thick spines. Upright habit. Huge flower compared ...Read Moreto size of plant and relatively short stalk- single raceme, usually. Very drought tolerant, but if not given any summer water, tends to curl in on itself a bit and look ugly. Those who can grow this well claim as little care as possible is the best way to care for it (if grown in the ground).

Recently moved to a new climate (zone 8b) and took some aloes with me... all suffered terribly in this windy, very cold forbidding climate of inland California... except this one which, other than some leaf discoloration, did great and even made a nice flower. This has to be one of the hardiest of all the aloes I have grown so far.