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 mutabilis commonly known as Kransaalwyn grows naturally on vertical rock faces of Witwatersrand National Botanical Garden at the Witpoortjie waterfall, which is the type locality. Being indigenous to South Africa it occurs also at Chuniespoort near Pietersburg and westwards along the Magaliesburg to Rustenburg. It can also be found in the hilly and mountainous area of the former southern and central Transvaal. The species name “mutabilis” which means changeable or mutable refers to the flowers which change colour as they open and to the variability of the species. Aloe mutabilis grows fairly fast and it can withstand fairly severe frost. It makes a magnificent rockery specimen when grown at the highest point of the rockery with the rosette hanging downward. From autumn to winter it bears striking red bird attracting flowers which change to bright yellow as they age.