Some of our Aloe, Gasteria, and Haworthia collection. Yes, those red tags mean they are stock plants and not for sale…but we may have babies coming along!
It’s no surprise that as your plant obsession grows, you begin to find the more exotic, curious and sometimes bizarre selections the most interesting, and perhaps most beautiful. Aloe, Haworthia and Gasteria fit that bill us.
Miniature Aloe ‘Blizzard’…4 year old clump
A number of years ago, we visited California succulent breeder Dick Wright (now in his 90’s) in search of his famous Echeveria hybrids. Dick’s new obsession was miniature Aloe, and he turned us onto this whole new group of succulent hybrids. He, along with other CA hybridizers such as John Bleck, Kelly Griffin and Karen Zimmerman, were hybridizing many Aloe species resulting in selections as minute as 1″ to up to 2′ in height, in a vast array of foliage colors and textures. Their small stature makes them more suitable for container culture than in the landscape, and since they do not winter over outdoors here in MA, that was just fine with us.
More Aloes…’Christmas Sleigh’, ‘Swordfish’, A. ramosissima, ‘Delta Dawn’, (Sedum clavatum interrupts the lineup ) one of the mini dark numbered selections from Dick Wright and a variegated Aloe brevifolia
Our first acquisitions were species hailing from Madagascar, Kenya and Tanzania, as well as the more well known hybrid selections ‘Delta Dawn’, ‘Christmas Sleigh’, and ‘Firecracker’. We also brought home other forms which had not been introduced and were distinguished only by initials and numbers, like the little dark Aloe above.
Aloe “AJR” in the foreground with Aloe ‘Firecracker’ behind
Gasteraloe x ‘Midnight’, Gastworthia armstrongii x limifolia, Haworthia retusa, Gasteria bicolor v liliputana (BG), Gasteraloe ‘Green Ice’ and Haworthia concolor.
We also began paying attention to the closely related genera Haworthia and Gasteria, since they are known to be more tolerant of low indoor light conditions. There are many species and hybrids of both, and you will likely come across names like x Gasteraloe and x Gastworthia, as these genera are often crossed with each other, resulting in even more diverse selections.
Gasteraloe ‘Green Ice’, sporting darker leaf coloration, and flowers!
Blooming time for Aloe, Gasteria and Haworthia is primarily during the winter months and early spring usually with strikingly colored flowers. A number of the Aloe selections also bloom intermittently throughout the summer for us and are a hummingbird favorite.
20 year old Gasteria bicolor v. liliputana in bloom….you start with a baby, and suddenly they are all grown up.
Consider growing these easy care plants for your fall and winter plant “fix”. They ask for so little: provide a sharply drained soil mix, a bright south or western exposure for Aloe, an eastern or northern exposure will be fine for the Gasteria and Haworthia. Water only as needed. The frequency will depend on how warm and arid your home conditions are. In fact, a cooler home is perfect!
Another shady spot. Begonia thurstonii grew well, but held off putting out any flowers (not surprisingly). I used two 6″ pots in this vase, and probably should have used just one. The mostly gold Plectranthus ‘Limelight’ is not a strong grower, and wouldn’t cascade down the pot as hoped. The Oxalis ‘Zinfandel’ always does well and the ruby leaved Alternanthera did fine until some critter nibbled its trailing stems.
No complaints with this shady ensemble…Phlebodium aureum is my go to bold foliage shade container plant. Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender’ is providing an end of the season supply of blossoms as is the Gold Leaved Mexican heather Cuphea hyssopifolia aurea. The golden jasmine vine’s foliage simply glows.
A pair of these hypertufa bowls, in the shade of our giant oak tree, were planted with ‘Moonglow’ Snakeplant (Sansevieria), Dichondra Silver Falls’, Pilea glauca and Liriope ‘Okimo’ (all selected for durable attractive leaves. The white flowered form of Black Eyed Susan Vine was the flower power plant, and it bloomed well until a couple of weeks ago. Figured a few mini pumpkins could add a little fun now.
And now, for the sun and heat loving succulents! This beautiful container, in itself, is eye candy….the foliage colors of the succulents were selected to complement it, and all did fine except for the tall Aeonium that had a mishap and lost it’s tallest stems. Blue Senecio talinoides and beige-pink Graptoveria ‘Fred Ives’ obliged by filing in much of the horizontal space.
Someone purchased the seashell planter shown in 
Succulents can play with other plants that tolerate the dry well drained soil…Here Coprosma ‘Pink Splendor’ (Mirror Plant) works well with Sedum adolphii, Sedum mackinoi ‘Ogon’ and Pachysedum.
Our tall cylinder pot, each year planted with a different array of succulents, caught visitors’ eyes when they entered the parking area. Everything did extremely well with just an occasional watering, although some creature nibbled and pulled out some of the trailing Othonna capensis ‘Ruby Necklace’. The tallish green succulent with the arching branches is the large leaved form of Elephant Plant, Portulacaria afra macrophylla. Adding an array of pumpkins helps carry this container into the fall season.
Why plant Buddleia when you can grow Vitex? Mid summer blue-lavender fragrant spires begin in July and carry on through August on bushy plants with attractive palmate foliage. Here in the northeast, our colder winters don’t allow plants to become as large (10-15′) as the data says, since they do get some winter die back. Vitex blooms on new growth, so it can be cut back hard each spring to grow into a perfectly sized 5-6′ flowering shrub. And yes, it is a great addition to a pollinator garden as it is a favorite of butterflies and bees.
