Dwarf Aloes Perfect for Pots

Kelly Griffin dwarf aloes

If you’re into aloes, you’re probably aware of highly collectible Kelly Griffin hybrids. Kelly, a premier plant breeder, is responsible for dozens of cultivars in the commercial marketplace. Naturally he has a following

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Succulents and Way Too Much Rain

Rain-drenched aloes (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

This year I figured my drenched aloes might finally succumb. They got quite a pounding. The gutter overflows 20 feet above them, then continues down-slope. Yet they’re fine. I have some theories why.

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All About Aloes

Aloe flowers (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

Ah, aloes! No other succulents add so much color, interest and drama to low-water, mild-climate gardens. Aloes are easy to grow and bloom mainly in winter when nothing else does. The number of Aloe varieties is ever-increasing, with lovely new cultivars continually being introduced. 

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Tom Cole’s Remarkable Rare Aloe Nursery

Aloe lukeana, red-orange

Tom Cole’s aloe-collecting hobby has turned into a unique nursery. Hundreds of seed-grown African aloes thrive in pots or in the ground at his Cold Spring Aloes near Lotusland in Montecito, south of Santa Barbara, CA.

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Which Aloes Are Best for Your Garden?

One of Southern CA’s in-demand landscape designers, Bill Schnetz of Schnetz Landscape, Inc., likes to use aloes of all sizes in residential gardens. If you love succulents, live in a mild climate, and grow these South Africans in soil that drains well, “they’ll soon become your favorite plants,” Bills says. For a natural setting, he suggests…

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