Aloe brevifolia

Aloe brevifolia is a small-sized plant that is ideal for pot cultivation and rock gardens. This species produces numerous tightly packed succulent leaf rosettes, similar to Sempervivums, eventually forming delightful carpets and beautiful cascades in a mineral setting. Its bluish-grey-green leaves are speckled with white and edged with small flexible teeth. It usually flowers in late winter, with mature rosettes producing short spikes with red to orange flowers, touched with white and green. This aloe is not frost-hardy. It withstands long, hot, and dry summers very well.

Aloe brevifolia is a botanical species in the Asphodelaceae family. It is native to a small coastal region located in the southernmost part of South Africa. It is a compact, small-sized succulent perennial plant, with a rosette habit wider than it is tall, reaching a maximum width of 30cm (12in) and a height of 20cm (8in). In our climates, it rarely exceeds 45 to 50cm (18 to 20in) in flower. Its growth rate is quite rapid, with the plant reaching its adult size in 5 to 6 years. It forms a short stem, not exceeding 10cm (4in) in height as it ages, concealed by the leaves. Its leaves are triangular, thick, fleshy, and upright. Their bluish-grey colour is due to the presence of a bloom, which masks the green colour of the lamina. Depending on the season and the ambient dryness, the leaves will curl and take on beautiful shades of orange, smoky grey, and pink. They have white non-prickly spines along the edges and also along the well-defined dorsal ridge in the centre of the lamina. From March to May, depending on the climate and the year, a non-branched floral spike measuring 50cm (20in) emerges from the centre of mature rosettes, bearing pendulous tubular flowers in shades of coral, orange, and red. This species produces numerous daughter rosettes.

Aloe brevifolia thrives when grown in pots to decorate a patio or balcony, taking care to remove any rosettes that threaten to overcrowd the available space. It will also flourish in the ground in a warm climate or on protected Atlantic coasts, in a border, rock garden, or well-drained bank. It is hardy to approximately -6°C (21.2°F) in dry soil. Plant this aloe in sloping or rocky well-drained soil, or even in dry-stone walls. Elsewhere, it can be planted in a wider than tall pot to fully enjoy its unique charm. It can be paired, for example, with small agaves. You can plant low-growing, undemanding ground covers such as evening primroses, osteospermums, felicia, and delosperma at its base, which will fill the space with their flowering and evergreen foliage, and hide the void left by a dead plant.

About Agaves and Aloes

Aloes and agaves look alike but belong to two different botanical families, the Asphodelaceae and the Asparagaceae. The main difference between them lies in the fact that the rosettes of aloes flower for many years, while the flowering of a mature agave rosette marks the end of its life. In certain species of aloes, interfoliar buds give rise to new plants that cover the dried remains of the mother plant. In agaves, the central flower stalk develops from the terminal bud. In aloes, the flower buds arise between the leaves. Agaves are native to North America, while aloes are found only in the southern half of Africa and in the nearby islands of the Indian Ocean.