Aloes are very popular and some of the most rewarding plants to cultivate. They make excellent accent plants owing to their often strange and inspiring architectures, as well as the bright flowers that offset the grey-green leaves. They are also very suitable as container plants and small aloes can be used very effectively as border plants at the edge of a bed. Although aloes are most often included in rockeries, their application in horticulture is not limited to this feature and they can be used in almost any setting and in conjunction with most common garden plants. Their natural adaptation to harsh and often arid climates makes aloes outstanding subjects for the water-wise garden. Aloe is a genus in the Asphodeloideae family containing about 600 species of flowering succulent plants. Aloes are sometimes confused with Agaves. Contrarily to Agaves, Aloe leaves contain a gel like sap. Another difference is that Aloes don’t die after blooming as most Agaves do.

Aloe boylei is one of the larger grass Aloes with broad leaves that are spotted white near the base. The flower spike reaches about 50cm high. The orange to salmon coloured flowers are tipped green. It is a cold hardy Aloe. It is sometimes confused with Aloe verecunda but the leaves of Aloe boylei are broader making it a larger plant. As the plant ages it develops a short trunk where the previous leaves were attached. Commonly known as Broad-leaved Grass Aloe, Aloe boylei loses its leaves in winter where the climate is cold, making this an aloe which can be planted outside in cold climates.