All The Aloes 2016

Above, Aloe thraskii
Below, Aloe 'Always Red'

Aloe 'Always Red'.  The foliage is always green.  The flowers are orange, not red.  So why did they call it 'Always Red'?  

This post is a list of all the garden's Aloes.  It is more for the blogger than the blog-reader, documentation for this moment in time.  The photos are not beauty shots.  There are a lot of them, so I made the photo size smaller than usual.  Clicking on a photo will enlarge the photo (theoretically), should you wish to examine details.  

Aloe aculeata 

 Aloe alooides

 Aloe betsileensis

Below, Aloe 'Blue Elf'.  Not a favorite.  The outer leaves hang on, get all dried out, and hang on some more.  Nice display of flowers in late spring, though, that hummingbirds go mad for.  I keep it for the hummers. 

 Aloe bra-something or other, and it is Not Happy.  The ones at the Huntington look this bad, too.  It grew a new leaf since I stuck it back into full shade. 

 Aloe buhrii is similar to Aloe striata.

 Aloe cameronii, hiding behind a pair of Yucca 'Bright Star'

 Aloe camperi, which has a truly spectacular bloom display in late spring.  The rest of the time it is partially hidden and doesn't attract the eye.

 Aloe capitata. Looks stressed...what do you think?  Unhealthy?  One of my favorite Aloe flowers--yellow mop-heads. 

 Aloe capitata ssp. quartziticola.  The one with the really pretty blue-mauve foliage, and red teeth.  I recently gave it its own personal irrigation dripper, and it responded by growing fat healthy new leaves. 

 Aloe capitata seedlings from a few years ago.  Five seedlings survived; none of them looks like any other.  Three are green, one is blue, and that purple one on the right--oooh!)

 Aloe castanea.  Got it in a 4" pot at Annie's Annuals at the 2013 Fling.

Aloe claviflora 

Aloe so-called congolensis, but probably a hybrid of some sort. 

 Aloe cryptoflora

Aloe 'Cynthia Gitty'

 Aloe detoideodonta fallax--likes summer water.

  Aloe deltoideodonta 'Sparkler'.  A beautiful, beautiful solitary Aloe that did not like being in the ground.  It also doesn't appreciate water sitting puddled in the foliage, doesn't want full sun, but also doesn't want full shade.  Water below the foliage, provide some sun, some shade.  Got it.  Should have taken more care with the photo, because this plant really is a stunner. 

Aloe dhufarensis needs no water, apparently.  It's grown a whole lot without any. 

 Aloe dorotheae, and it needs out of that pot.

 Aloe ellenbeckii, which much prefers shade.   In shade each rosette is three or four times larger than in sun, and the leaf tips stay fat and happy.  In sun the foliage turns pinkish-brown and the leaf tips die.

Aloe erinacaea.  I need to move that before Leucospermum 'Yellow Bird' engulfs it. 

 Aloe ferox.  It is fighting for space with Agave marmorata, and the Aloe will win, because while the Agave will bloom and die, the Aloe will bloom and live.  

 Aloe ferox, supposedly the white-flowered form

Aloe ferox, candelabra form

   Aloe 'Fire Ranch', the one that is solitary and forming a trunk.  The other is a shrubby mass of offsets.  What's with that?!?

 Aloe fosteri

 Aloe glauca, the form that offsets like crazy.

 Aloe 'Grassy Lassie', which a neighbor gave me because it wouldn't bloom.

 Aloe greatheadii.  Also not a favorite--it offsets too much. 

Aloe hardyi, fighting for space with Agave marmorata.  Hold on, hardyi.  The Agave will bloom, die, and then you'll have a whole lot of space and sunlight again.

  Aloe hardyi x Aloe cameronii.  This is a seedling from a hardyi pod, but it looks a lot like cameronii, which was nearby, so that's my guess of what it is.  Blooming for the very first time.  I will be interested to see what the flower looks like.  

 Aloe 'Hellskloof Bells' (pearsonii x mitriformis) hybridized by Brian Kemble, who we had the honor to meet when we visited the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut a few weeks ago.  I thought this plant had not grown one inch since purchased, but comparing it to the original photo, it's about doubled.  Sneaky!

Aloe hemmingi, widely sold as A. harlana.  A. harlana is a more desirable species, though to be fair to sellers, at a small size they are difficult to tell apart.  

 
Aloe (Aloidendron) 'Hercules', below that is Aloe marlothii, and below that, shaded, another supposedly white-flowered form of Aloe ferox.  A "normal" ferox to the direct left of marlothii.

 Aloe hereroensis, recent purchase at the RBG.

 Aloe krapohliana, which one is supposed to be extremely careful about not overwatering.  My experience is:  it wants more water here than advertised. 

 Aloe megalacantha reblooms off and on, with golden flowers, given sufficient water.   On winter rain alone it blooms once. 

 Aloe microstigma, growing and happy since it started getting a little irrigation, about one pint per week.

 Aloe 'Moonglow' which a kind garden buddy gave to me.  First flower stem spotted a few days ago.  Wheee!

 Aloe x 'Noblis'.  I bought the variegated version, and it produces green offsets that then produce variegated offsets.  Kind of fun, that.  Takes an incredible amount of drought (even more than microstigma). 

Aloe peglarae

Aloe pillansi, tiny, just hanging on.  My bad.

 
Kumara (Aloe) plicatilis.  The trunk is visible now. 

 Aloe reitzii, a favorite for its simple elegance.

 Aloe 'Roikoppie' holds up better to lack of water than most other small Aloes without loosing its looks.  It also reblooms quite a bit.  There appears to be a lot of gall mite infected stock of this being sold, so keep an eye on it should you buy one.

 Aloe speciosa.  It had a fungal attack which responded well to a systemic fungicide, though the old leaves remain marred. 

 Aloe striata.  I have several;  this is not the largest.  When in bloom, a group of them makes a splendid spring show. 

The karasbergensis subspecies of Aloe striata.  It has leaves striped with white, but is said to be fussier than the species.  

 Aloe suprafoliata, blooming for the second time.  It was planted in another place on the slope, getting occasional water and being crowded out by Maireana sedifolia.  Moved to more space and given an irrigation dripper, it has thrived.  Beautiful plant, and the first Aloe flower of autumn, (if you count fosteri as late summer).  

 Aloe suzannae has (surprise!) survived, has grown a couple of new leaves, but is now being crowded on both sides by shrubs.  Must move it.  I'm thrilled its still alive.  This one is tricky to grow.  Beyond my abilities, probably, but the genus seems to love love love that slope, so I remain hopeful.   

 Aloe tauri.  This replaces one thrown out due to Aloe gall mite.  In full sun the foliage colors up to a bright coral, but this plant was too young and small to endure any sun.  It's grown;  time to repot and move to a bit of morning sun for the winter months. 

 
 Aloe thraskii with Aloe pseudorubroviolacea.  The very first flowers on Aloe thraskii are about to open.

  
Aloe tomentosa 

Aloe tweediaea.  This plant has grown considerably and looks far healthier than it did six months ago.  I'm starting to like it. 

 Aloe--never sure what this one is.  Very small individual rosettes form clumps.  Not thrilled with it, but I hate to throw out healthy plants. 

 Ditto for this one. 

 I thought this next plant might be Aloe reitzii, but it's not quite the same as the Aloe reitzii I know to be an actual Aloe reitzii.  The mystery plant was 90%(!) off original price at the garden center, had no id tag, and I bought it anyway in the hope that it would not be an Aloe ferox.  I think it isn't an Aloe ferox.  It's becoming quite pretty.   Could it be Aloe petricola?

 Aloe vanbalenii.  The leaves array themselves in graceful swoops and the flowers are yellow. It has the out-of-ordinary habit of offsetting from between leaves, on the stem, rather than at the very base of the stem.  

 Aloe wickensii hated the front slope and nearly died.  I suspect insufficient water.  Put back into a pot and put into the shade for the summer, it seems to have recovered.  Do I try the front slope again? Some experts think this species is the same as A. cryptopoda, and some don't.

 The Aloe incorrectly known as sinkatana and recently correctly identified as Aloe zubb.  Yep, zubb. 

   That's quite a few different Aloes.  Sixty three?  Did I count correctly?