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Photo Credit: Felder Rushing

When gardeners think “aloe,” it’s the very popular Aloe vera that springs to mind.

When most people think of aloe, it’s the relatively small and super-soothing Aloe vera plant that comes to mind. But there are over 300 species of this awesome plant, most of which are native to southern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. And if you’re lucky enough to live in the southern fourth of the US (USDA hardiness zones 8-15), you can enjoy many of these water wise beauties year-round! These showy, low-maintenance succulents are perfect for hot, dry climates: They demand little to no additional watering, making them popular selections for areas with limited water.

With literally hundreds of species, it’s not surprising to learn you can find all sizes and shapes of the plant. Aloes can be as small as a 6-inch rosette or as tall as a 30-foot tree. Generally speaking, they all have thick, pointed, waxy leaves that tend toward rosette forms. Like most succulents, they thrive in full sun, though in low desert and other extremely hot areas they appreciate light shade.

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Photo Credit: Gerald L. Klingaman

The other-worldly shapes of aloes help create gardens of terrific interest.

With so many species, some aloe connoisseurs have broken the genus down into a variety of different groups:

Creeping aloes hug the ground and have a spreading habit. A. distans, commonly known as jeweled aloe, is one of the most commonly grown of these. It grows 6-18 inches tall and many feet wide. It’s got blue-green leaves with white spots and red or yellow flowers. Another neat creeping aloe is A. mitriformis. It’s got fascinating thorns on the edges of its leaves.

Dwarf aloes grow just several inches tall, usually forming rosettes. They’re great for pots, edging and groundcovers and are probably the most commonly available type of aloe in this country. A. aristata is one of the most widely grown of this group, reaching 5-10 inches high and wide. It forms rosettes of 4-inch leaves with soft-white spines that end in threadlike white strings. It flowers orange-red atop clusters in winter. A. breviolia grows in low clumps of thick, blunt, gray-green leaves about 3 inches long with red flowers off and on all year. A. humilis has especially attractive blue-green leaves, and A. variegata (known as partridge-breast aloe or tiger aloe) has upright 6-inch leaves marked with white bands. It produces pink flowers off and on all year-round.