Anyone growing Aloe outdoors?
The following thread was started by Brian on September 05, 2004 at 7:54 pm PST
Brian,
Aloe striatula is the easiest to grow all-around outdoor Aloe for our climate, it would seem. It forms a mounding, branching shrub with very showy flowers. In colder winters, it dies back, but as long as drainge is good it will return.
Aloe polyphylla and A. pratensis are magnificent rosette forming Aloes with light green or bluish-green leaves, that are quite cold hardy, although their long term performance in our region has yet to be determined. Also they are both hard to find, because they seldom flower and set seed. Rare plant research has A. polyphylla.
A. reitzii, A. ferox and other aloes in that group have dark green, longer leaves forming a more open rosette. Although they are supposed to be quite hardy, they are very susceptible to rot in winter in our climate.
Another group of hardy Aloes is the grass Aloes... A. boylei, A. dominella, A. cooperi, A. ecklonis and a few others. They are generally herbaceous plants.
A. greatheadii, A. maculata, A. fosteri and A. humilis might also be worth looking into. There are a couple other misc. species that I can't remember off hand. A few people have had luck with A. aristata and A. broomii but I am not sure they would do so well in a cold winter. All of them need a lot of summer water, and generally prefer to be kept dry in winter, if possible. I would plant them in a raised bed of fine gravel for most, except A. striatula - maybe a little compost could be mixed in for some species.
Is anyone familiar with Aloe distans? Sounds interesting and should be adapted to our climate as it comes from the winter rainfall area - if it can take our cold.
The above followup was added by Ian on September 05, 2004 at 8:28 pm PST.
There are others here who have more experience than I do.
I kept moving my potted Aloe polyphylla out of the rain, and my wife kept moving it back into the rain. Killed it. Rotted. Even in soil that was mostly light fluffy fast-draining stuff.
I have just planted Aloe ecklonis outdoors. While it has no track record I have no reason to believe it won't be hardy, since it lives outdoors in cool rainy England, and a few others here have grown them outdoors as well. There is nothing to freeze off as the plant is completely deciduous.
Several others are as well, the "Grass Aloes".
I think the flowers on A. ecklonis are not much to brag about. Maybe someone else knows if there is a hardy Aloe with showy flowers.
The above followup was added by Rob Wagner on September 05, 2004 at 8:28 pm PST.
Here is a pic of the flower of A. ecklonis. It is certainly not as showy as some Aloes, but I thought it was cool. Ian.
The above followup was added by Ian on September 06, 2004 at 6:44 am PST.
Here is Aloe reitzii. I should get another pic of this plant now; it is much larger. But I still haven't planted it out! It hasn't bloomed yet either.
The above followup was added by Ian on September 06, 2004 at 6:45 am PST.
I'm trying quite a few different aloes, however, most are still too small to leave outside this winter. Aloe striatula is definitely tough. Mine had no damage from last winter. They were protected from the rain, but I don't know if this is necessary.
Aloes I will leave out for the first time are A. aristata and what I think is A. distans. According to Desert-Tropicals, A. distans is a synonym for A. brevifolia. However, they are described as different plants in other places. Seems to be a lot of synonyms in the case of aloes. I wish I had a good book. Anyone familiar with the Aloes of South Africa and is it worth getting?
I'm waiting for A. maculata (syn. saponaria) to produce some offsets so I have some backup plants in case it doesn't make it. It's supposed to be pretty hardy (drought tolerant too) and is definitely worth trying. Other aloes that are still too small to test are A. broomii and A. ecklonis - next year they will stay outside.
A few years ago I tried A. boylei and A. cooperi. Neither survived a not particularly cold winter and both were protected from the rain. Maybe they were too small or not cared for properly and stressed during the summer. Will probably try them again some time.
Wasn't able to get A. reitzii to germinate. It's supposed to have beautiful bright red with yellow flowers. I regret throwing out the seed/soil after three months or so. Apparently some aloes can take a long time to germinate. This has not been my experience, which is why I threw it out, but will keep this in mind in the future.
Right now I'm waiting for A. polyphylla and A. haemanthifolia to germinate. Anyone familiar with haemanthifolia? It is a strap leaved aloe and looks quite beautiful. It comes from the highest parts of the Drakenstein mountains, which is a high rainfall area in the Western Cape.
I think A. plictalis (Z 9 fan aloe) is great looking and worth growing and bringing inside, which is what I do. Easy to do now anyway because the plant is only three inches high. :-) Had no problem killing all seedlings but one. Unfortunatley, it does not seem to grow all that fast.
A. variegata is surprisingly hardy. It supposedly takes -7 C. Mine, which was in a small pot, had flowers buds on it last winter and it looked really healthy in January. I brought it in around the time we had those two really cold nights (-7.5). Unfortunately, I can't remember if it stayed out for both nights or not. It rotted in the greenhouse. I'm going to try again (in a pot), but will bring it in if it goes below -5 or so.
Does anyone know if there are any potentially hardy aloe/gasteria hybrids?
The above followup was added by Linda, Denman Island on September 06, 2004 at 11:38 am PST.
Aloe ecklonis is proving to be a good one to experiment with in the pacific northwest. Also, Aloe cooperi is showing promise. Aloe reitzi does seem to need overhead protection (from moisture in colder months), mine rotted last fall.
Aloe distans has proven atleast not as tough as A. ecklonis, A. cooperi, or, A. reitzii.
Hope this helps.
The above followup was added by Jay in Shelton, Wa. on September 08, 2004 at 2:26 am PST.
I have most of the aloes up above but most are in the greenhouse. I Will be taking pics of my small collection outside and inside, in a few weeks. Will also include desert and dry plants at the same time. I saw some a few aloe book at the Seattle Garden show in Feb. They were new releases, and seemed very good, but I can remember the names. I plan on getting some this winter. Will let you know then.
I have a large A. maculata (syn. saponaria) in the ground for the last 4 years, it has produce 8 pups in the last two years. Very nice looking aloe.
The above followup was added by Roger in Olympia on September 08, 2004 at 1:51 pm PST.
Sounds really encouraging for both of these. I'm tempted to leave my only A. maculata out this year. Will be interesting to see how A. distans does here this winter - will report in the spring.
Roger, would be great to see your photos. I would appreciate it if you provide the names of the good aloe books once you get them. I have a hard time identifying a lot of aloes unless they have really distinctive features.
The above followup was added by Linda, Denman Island on September 10, 2004 at 8:57 am PST.
I will seriously look into some books in November (maybe sooner), one for good pictures and another for good information, maybe I'll get lucky and find one book that has it all.
The one I saw in Seattle was not Cheap.
The above followup was added by roger on September 10, 2004 at 10:06 pm PST.
Look forward to finding out what you come up with. It would be nice to find one that has both, but they can be hard to come by. The book I was thinking of before is called Guide to the Aloes of South Africa by Ben-Erik van Wyk and Gideon F. Smith. It's over $90 Canadian and not easy to get in Canada - out of stock. I don't know if it's any good or not.
The above followup was added by Linda, Denman Island on September 11, 2004 at 8:41 am PST.