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 cooperi is a South African indigenous grass aloe; so classified because of its natural habitat, the South African grasslands. It was discovered by Burchell in his early travels in South Africa and was rediscovered by Thomas Cooper, after whom it was named. Its common name, Cooper’s Aloe was also directly derived from his surname. It occurs in moist habitats and in dry rocky areas, mainly in Natal, Swaziland and Mpumalanga. Aloe cooperi grows singly or in small groups from offshoots at ground level. Plants may be stemless or short stemmed up to 15cm high. The leaves are often yellowish green with the upper surface usually unspotted, though occasionally they have a few white spots lower down. The inflorescence is simple and bold. The flowers of Aloe cooperi vary in colour from greenish-cream to apricot and salmon pink. Flowering occurs from December near the coast and January or February inland. Young shoots and flowers are edible and cooked and eaten as vegetables by the Zulu people. The Zulu people also believe that the smoke from burning leaves of Aloe cooperi in the cattle kraal will protect the cattle from the ill effects of eating improper food. Cooper’s aloe also attracts nectar feeding birds such as sunbirds and makes a striking addition to a flower bed.