I would say that there's about a 95% chance that it is Aloe vera - or known by its other name, A. barbadensis. That's what most mass-marketers would put into "novelty" gift pots, since it's easy to grow and widely available.

flower color won't really help, since a. vera comes in both yellow and orange forms, yellow being the more common.

I wish to respectfully disagree with Patrick in regards to yellow being the more common flower color of aloe vera. I believe orange is the common flower color. 95% of what I see in flower is orange. I give orange flowering aloe veras away. I do agree with his identification of the above aloe, though. Impressive growth for just over a year. All ready offsetting as well.

Welcome Patrick,

I see you just joined. Here is a pic of part of YOUR garden that I took from a few years back.

-Ron-

{{gwi:481359}}

Hi, Ron! What a surprise to see a photo of my own place on here. If I could figure out how to post a photo, I'd show you what this same view looks like now - VERY different!

The pictures of your own garden are fantastic. I was there with R&B many, many years ago - it's grown in wonderfully.

In spite of all the recent grumbling, I think I'm going to enjoy the forum.

First, I hope all of the above posters join me at the monthly meeting of the San Diego Cactus and Succulent Society tomorrow at Balboa Park. There are some dyed-in-the-wool Aloe nuts there.

Jack, I think you've got the true Aloe vera there - nice lloking plant, and a little surprising to see it's spike so soon - I' would have thought next month, but with the weather we're getting, all bets are off.

Borrego,

The true Aloe vera, like many of its cousins on the Arabian peniinsula, has yellow flowers. There are a number of Aloe vera hybrids, one of them going around with the name of Aloe vera chinensis, that have orange flowers, but the true one is pure lemon yellow.

Jeff, you're right about all bets being off. This has been a really early season for aloe bloom. My garden usually "peaks" in late January, but many of mine are already finishing.

I'd love to attend the SDCSS meeting - I've never been to one - but I'm supposed to have 100 people coming to see my garden on Sunday (weather permitting), so I'll be kind of busy tomorrow. It would be nice to meet some other local aloe-philes.

And thanks for backing me up on Aloe vera color. Borrego and I have had a friendly disagreement about this before; it's nice to have someone else weigh in. Healthy discussion is what makes these forums interesting!

A more accurate statement on my behalf should have been 95% of what I see must be aloe vera hybrids because they flower orange. I was aware true aloe vera flowers yellow, I just don't see that much of it. I do have 7 large aloe veras that flower yellow. The topic of true aloe vera was recently covered in a yahoo forum. However, when an esteemed, knowledgeable person such as Mr. Harris speaks, I listen. I have aloe vera chinensis, offsets like mad, but I can't get mine to flower.
Patrick - I see so many orange flowering aloes in general, I try and find yellow flowering varieties if I can. I think my sinkatana is going to flower yellow, buds are almost ready to open and I believe I have spoken to you about some yellow flowering arborescens cuttings. It's just a personal preference.
San Diego is too far out of my range, maybe you could send some of those aloe-nuts to the Orange County Cactus Club this month. Not many aloe nuts there.

Somehow the Orange/red color flower Aloe really attract the hummers attention. I guess they prefer orange/red but will sample other colored flowers as well.

Supannee,

I believe it's been determined that oranges and reds are the colors that hummers respond to most, with yellow a distant third. I've even seen them checking out the white Haworthia flowers, but that probably isn't that crowd's favorite.

{{gwi:481363}}
Hi Jeff,
You are right. This year, winter in San Diego has been much different than I remember in the past. Sunsets in October are something to see, but we have had those type of sunsets for 5 months now. No complaints here.
I hope to make next months Society meeting. Oldest daughter needs me for some wedding plans tomorrow.
Happy Collecting,
Jack

My Aloe vera started bloom spikes late enough last winter to end up outdoors in the spring. The hummers seemed to enjoy it.

{{gwi:481367}}
{{gwi:481369}}
randy

nice pix rjj

Patrick...in Ron's picture of your garden, what is the large plant at the base of the tree aloe? Is it an Aloe or Agave? What ever it is I love it.

The plant in question is Agave guiengola, my absolute favorite of the large-scale agaves. Compared to most other large agaves, it is quite succulent - i.e., the leaves are brittle and easily damaged by rampaging Labradors. It's also not very cold tolerant - even here in coastal San Diego, it got frost damage one year - so I don't know if it could survive an Arizona winter. It's worth a try if you can give it some protection.

BTW, the huge tree aloe is a bainesii-dichotoma cross, named "Hercules" by its hybridizer. The name is apt - it has twice the vigor of both its parents combined!

Nice pix everybody, thanks so much for sharing them in this show.

I thought I recognized A. dichotoma (I've had some wonderful times, tours & viewings while visiting w/ some of the So. Cal. Aloe nuts); Hercules is especially handsome. He certainly is something most of us Yankees don't get to see very often. Thanks again!!

Just wanted to thank you ALL for some gorgeous shots. Jack, that is a stunning sunset. I am so jealous of all you California people...

freezing in the Great White North,
Shelly

My aloe is starting to bloom as well. It is the first time one of my succulents has bloomed, so I'm very excited. What should I do now, as far as care is concerned? More water? More fertilizer? More light?

I live in an apartment in northern VA, so it is inside, in a SW facing window.

Thanks.

Hi, folks!!! I see most of you guys are in California. I am in Philadelphia. Ok...I have only seen aloe blooming once here...and it was yellow like in the photo shown. That guy had his aloe for 15 years...and had gotten a million babies all over his house. He gave me two babies and I lost one and was about to lose the other but gave it "benevolent neglect" and it is doing fine.

First question...how does one get the aloe to bloom???

Second question...I saw pics from S. Africa where there were many varieties of flowering aloe. What's with that?? How are conditions different???

Ok...let's see what help we can get on this!! Hope you guys are up for the challenge.

Gardenbud, Faye