Today I’m sharing my aloe collection, plus some care tips.  With over 400 species of Aloes, there’s a plant for just about everyone.  My Aloe collection consists of 9 specimens and each one is different in size, shape and color.  

 

Here are some basic care tips:

• Do NOT over water or leave in stagnant water

• In Spring- Summer water once a week, but make sure soil is dry at least 2″ down first.

• Water less in Fall and Winter. Once a month at most.

• They are drought tolerant

• They need well draining soil.  I use cactus mix with added perlite.

• Fertilize weekly in Spring and Summer with diluted strength (growing season)

• Hardy to zones 8, 9, 10 and 11

• Prefer mild temps of 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, But mine handle 100 degrees in the shade just fine.

• Bring inside if temps fall below 40 degrees Fahrenheit

• Full sun to Part shade

• They are slow growers so re-potting is not necessary annually

Let’s start with the oldest member of my collection, Aloe Vera.  This plant is actually a third or fourth generation of the original one I purchased years ago in a 4″ pot.  When I moved from my home about 18 months ago I took some cuttings from the mother plant that was in the ground.

This Aloe Vera is the best known of the genus and also has some medicinal properties to it.  The gel in the leaves is perfect for cuts and sun burns.

Aloe Striata or Coral Aloe has long green leaves with no spikes on them, so it’s easy to handle.  I have two of them in varying sizes.  It’s susceptible to sun burns so I keep it in the shade.

I have most of my Aloes in terra cotta or ceramic, but this smaller Striata I planted in a tea tin and it seems to like it because it has doubled in size this growing season.

This Aloe Glauca I purchased at Ikea of all places.  You don’t need very deep pots for some Aloes.  This Glauca has been living in a shallow terra cotta pot and is flourishing.

 

Aloe Crosby’s Prolific is the perfect name for this clumping Aloe.  So many rosettes form off the mother plant and it makes a nice rounded plant.  All those rosette pups can be propagated during the growing season of Spring and Summer.

Here is the bloom spike the Crosby’s Prolific gave me this Spring.

Aloe Brevifolia is also a clumping style of Aloe.  This one lost some of the rosettes to over watering from the nursery that I purchased it from.  But, the remaining plant is doing well.  This plant gets a beautiful shade of blush when stressed by the sun.

 

For soft pink color, I have the Aloe Pink Blush.  This one is a slow grower, even the little pup is slow.  It has a very faint Pink around the leaf margin, but when stressed by the sun it turns a more vibrant pink.

My smallest one is the Aloe Firebird.  It’s such a small specimen, but with so much character.  It’s the perfect size for a Fairy garden.

The next two are my newest additions from Leaf and Clay online succulent store.  This Aloe Snow Storm has green fleshy leaves that are spotted with white dots, like snow.  It’s already growing many pups on the sides.

This is one that I’m really looking forward to seeing it grow and bloom.  Aloe “Partridge Breast” Variagata has such and unusual growth pattern. 

It will grow a bit taller than wider and the blooms are long stems with orange, tubular blooms, as shown in this picture.

My collection is definitely still growing.  I have many more Aloes on my wish list, but I need to pace myself.  

I’ve also created a video showcasing my collection…

Do you have any of these Aloe’s?  Or perhaps you have some different ones.  Let me know in the comments which one was your favorite.

Thanks you friends for visiting me today and letting me share my collection!

Blessings,