Aloe Species, Coral Aloe, Cape Aloe

Very attractive, and with its blushing colours and idiosyncratic form, its a great addition to a massed collection of different aloes....Read More /> If you have wet conditions, this is the aloe for you- provided the drainage is ok, this guy just gets fatter and better looking with abundant moisture.
Seems to take mild to medium frosts quite well, this is a cheerful and rewarding species, so pretty that it seems too easy to grow!
Winter 09 update- looks like I spoke too soon. See pics of my A Striata and a Striata (?) hybrid suffering frost damage after being planted out during a colder than normal winter. Doh. Nothing fatal, but learn from my mistake- in new beds, take care or frost can catch them out.

See some of our plants and gardenalia at The Blackthorn Orphans.com

Whatever the other species is that the Aloe striata was crossbred with caused it to have some teeth on the leaf margins.

Relatively common aloe with nice fall color of leaves- blue-green fading to a pinkish. Leaves have striations along their length (hence ...Read Morethe name). Leaves also have a fine whitish border along the edges and no teeth to speak of. Has a coral colored flower branching but only at the very end of a tall, thin stalk- usually one flower stalk per plant. Suckering aloe- can spread but slowly. Leaves very wide, flat, short and spineless margins. Note, you may see a lot of toothed aloes that look exactly like this one, and may even be identified as such by a nursery or botanical garden- they are hybrids, however.

This is one of the fastest growing aloes in southern California (and a very hardy, easy one)- can go from a new seedling to a flowering adult nearly 2' in diameter in less than two years. Grows in just about any condition, from shady/moist to full sun, hot and dry. Many hybrid forms exist, sometimes making it difficult to tell what is the real thing. Similar species Aloe reynoldsii (similar leaves with striations) have much shorter, more highly branched flowers of yellow, and tend to flower earlier in the winter than A striata. There are also at least two forms/subspecies of this plant, one having much more prominent striations. Some consider that form to be a different species now (Aloe karasbergensis... and it does have its own species verification now!). South African native