Aloe arborescens

[Geoff]

Huntington Gardens

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Los Angeles arboretum

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This is easily the most commonly grown shrubby aloe in southern California, if not the world, and one of the most common aloes in cultivation overall. It is a fast growing plant, happy in both full sun and nearly full shade, and accepting almost no water or all the water you can give it. It grows very well in clay as well as loamy or sandy soils. Cold hardiness is NOT its strong suit as is often advertised and is pretty badly damaged by temps down towards 25F, though has a lot 'come back' ability when cut down by a freeze. My plants subjected to yearly temps as low as 20F always show severe damage (flowers never surviving temps below 26F) but are still alive and come back by mid summer. I would rate it one of the most cold sensitive aloes but that certainly is not how most have advertised it... surviving low temps and being damaged by them are two different things obviously.

Typical flowers are red to reddish orange, but a nice pale yellow-flowering form exists as well. Flowering is primarily in mid winter, but occasionally I have seen a flower pop out at an odd time of year. It is a promiscuous hybridizer, and several popular hybrids of this grow commonly. It is also probably the most sensitive of all the aloes to Aloe Mite and massive infections abound in nearly all of the botanical gardens in southern California. Still, most plants are large and vigorous enough that severe mite infestations do not seem to kill it or even weaken it much... .just makes the plants unsightly.

Variegated forms are fairly common and can often be seen at botanical gardens (such as the Huntington near Pasadena, California)

[Geoff]

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Closer shots

[Geoff]

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Wall of plants in Los Angeles public landscaping

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Comparison shot of two color varieties of Aloe arborescens, Huntington Gardens

[Geoff]

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The yellow form of Aloe abrorescens differs not only in the flower color, but the plant is different in some respects as well, with the rosettes of leaves tending to be more narrow and plants a bit less massive and more elegant.

[Geoff]

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close ups

[Geoff]

For some reason this species seems particularly prone to Aloe mite and collections at all the Los Angeles arboretums show severe infestation with this parasite. Little effort is done to battle these infestations, but then the peculiar life cycle of this creature makes control ultimately difficult, and so the 'solutions' are often to let things go 'naturally', perhaps removing the entire plant if severely enough damaged. Flowers are the most commonly affected part of the plants.

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aloe mite flower infections

[GreekDesert]

a variegated form of Aloe arborescens

[Geoff]

For shots of the variegated form of this species, see a separate entry.

[Geoff]

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[Spination]

I saw this old cluster on a sidewalk planting In Redwood City, Ca which has one of the warmer climates of the San Francisco Bay Area. They apparently get relief from the afternoon sun due to apartment buildings directly to the West. I found them appealing as they've apparently been trimmed over the years and feature long trunks with rosettes at the tops. These stems are over 5 feet tall. A whole lot of offsets lower down branching off the trunks as well.

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[Stan]

Today in Fremont. One of the larger local plantings. Why they put that pine is bad news..those Aloe's days are numbered.

[Otter]

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[Tony C]

Touws River ,Western Cape South Africa.

[Xanthoria]

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[Aeonium2003]

I have been busy collecting and freezing pollen from the may flowers I got this year. I hope to make some interesting hybrids.