Subscribe to our Growing Gardeners YouTube Channel

Wednesday 8 July 2009

Indigenous Beauties : Aloe vanbalenii

Who needs flowers when you've got this Aloe in your garden?


Aloe vanbalenii

I started these 'Indigenous Beauties' posts as a way of highlighting indigenous plants that are not very commonly used in the garden, but really should be. This plant doesn't quite fit into that category, because I've noticed that people are paying more attention to this particular Aloe...and for good reason.

Aloes are especially useful in a garden, because they mostly flower in winter when everything else is looking dry and spent. Add to this, the fact that during hot, dry periods, the foliage of many aloes will start to turn red, and you'll begin to see their unique place in a garden.

Aloe vanbalenii especially, needs very little attention, and forms dense clumps of competing plants. In times of plentiful water, or in a little shade, their foliage is a pleasing apple green, but as the heat increases, they turn a deep orange-red colour. They remind me of a bunch (what is the collective-noun?) of Octopuses jostling for their place in the sun.



Their foliage looks great in combination with yellows and other warm colours. Here they've been planted with equally hardy silvery Kleinia fulgens to fill the gaps. The silver really emphasises their colour.

They are stemless, so they don't get tall, but each plant will spread to about 1m wide and about 50cm high. Their flowers are yellow, and occasionally pink.

3 comments:

Bay Area Tendrils said...

Hi Ross, I'm following now & enjoying virtual South Africa. Looking at this aloe stirred me to send you a link to my post today on The Ruth Bancroft Garden. It's now a Garden Conservancy project but I think you'll relate to the plantings! Let me know what you think. Alice
http://bayareatendrils.blogspot.com/2009/07/unique-american-landscape-ruth-bancroft.html

stoneware70 said...

Thanks, I love it - we don't get to see some of those plants because of the strict rules around bringing new species into the country (for good reason) but I think Agaves are some of the most beautiful plants around. I love that flowering Cactus too. You should also check out Soekershof (soekershofwalkabout.blogspot.com)- A succulent garden in the Cape for a similar garden. You could always trade in the virtual for the real, and come visit us when you're next on one of your world tours?

Diana Studer said...

They have display beds of this at the Karoo garden in Worcester, but sadly they had none for sale. Will keep looking!

Home Made Pest Control Solution(s)

I'm really not a big fan of pesticides or chemicals. Actually, that's putting it mildly...I hate pesticides. They are almost always ...