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 petrophila commonly known as Small Flecked Aloe is a small, rare and colourful South African indigenous Aloe. It may form small clumps but are usually solitary plants. The leaves turn a fantastic bronze colour during the height of summer if grown in full sun. The leaves have white flecks and prominent red to brown teeth. It prefers light shade to full sun. The flowers are stunning, striped pink with green tips. Aloe petrophilla is a winter growing, summer dormant aloe. The species name ‘petrophila’ means that it ‘loves rocky places’.