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.

Originating in the Burgersfort to Ohrigstad area, Aloe fosteri commonly known as Fosters Aloe is a stemless Aloe with blue-green leaves that has grey markings on the upper surface of the leaves and marginal red-brown teeth. From March to April (Southern Hemisphere) Aloe fosteri puts on a magnificent display of brightly coloured flowers, varying from yellow to orange and even scarlet. The branched inflorescence can grow up to 120cm in height and the plants rosette of leaves can reach 50cm in diameter. This aloe is the perfect addition to a nice and sunny area of the garden and looks best when panted in groups.