Colleen: I'm turning green with envy! :) Those are some beautiful plants! The variegated aloe is just to die for; and your Haws! I swoon!


*CG*

(pssst...well, there aren't any Haws in there because the Haws are in the house, but there are Aloes, big fat and blooming Gasteraloe cv. Royal Highness, and pretty A.s! ;) Big fat Gasteraloe may be being confused for a Haw? And odd because that plant just bloomed this past fall and it's having a shining moment a second time around.

My mother swooned over the Aloe variegata. Part of the reason I came home with it. The shape and size I just thought were fab.

Beautiful, healthy looking plants! Nice quad color agave in the foreground, too. That's one of my favorites.

Will the varigated aloes do well inside in a bright room, with no direct sunlight? Or do they have to be outside?

Ok you HAVE to tell us where you got the aloes. No two ways about it. Fess up. I stopped in HD the other day for the first time in a couple years and see that they have their succulents in already, the little pots. I did buy a sedum that someone recently posted a pic of here. My stores dont get aloes like that unless something changed since I trolled the BBS.

Thant dyckia is gorgeous! Another thing I cant find in stores. You may have to wait until that one blooms for an ID, but I can tell you it looks mature enough to bloom this year, then you'll have tons of seeds.

Great haul!

Denise

OK, Colleen I'm not much of an Aloe person but your variegata has me panting! It's beautiful. All of your plants are gorgeous. So Z8... where more precisely? I doubt here in Michigan I could grow something so nice.... and I have a greenhouse!

Howard, you can grow aloes where you are, (in your greenhouse in winter) they can take the cold better than Euphorbs too. They thrive under lights too.

Denise

Hi your plants are very very beautiful looking, you do have a green thumb..I really like the one in the last pisture(the varigated one) I have that one I think its called, 'black night' its dark purple, mine is getting darker every day, correct me if I am wrong about the name......linda

Colleen, your plants look SWELL! Yay Spring! Funny about older cat hiding stuff...and 11 seconds is good...er..something! LOL

Just checking over what others said & I see an xGasteraloe (which has no name), but it is not 'Royal Highness'~unless I'm looking at the wrong thing. And is CG talking about the variegated Agave (the quad colored one)? I think I'm lost! :P Ha ha!

I know so little about Dyckias, really, so me IDing mine is kinda out of the question for the most part...but it's just so pretty. If it blooms and I have seeds, that'll certainly be a new experience! I've wanted Dyckias so badly-- it was just my second time seeing one! I just can't bring myself to order off eBay because the prices are jacked up something awful.

Miss Denise, I am having absolutely no luck so far this winter/early spring at big-box stores. I tried the nearest large one again yesterday, and nothing, but the prices are usually outrageous anyway, so maybe it's for the best. Home Depot is almost always a waste of time, and as for Lowes it's just up in the air--as I said, sure no luck there this winter. So these plants are all from Portland Nursery (Oregon), semi-close to my location, Howard, though I'm not in the city. They had three of that Dyckia and three of the Aloe variegata. The Aloe is so packed full of pups coming up; I'm quite pleased. And I guess those pups may have some people's names on 'em later on..? :) And the Dyckia has several pups, too, albeit I don't know if I'll ever want to suffer the puncture wounds and blood loss while trying to separate those babies.

The Dyckia was great for about 10 bucks, and I wanted to get all three they had... It was the first time I've left there without at least one Haw, I think. They haven't gotten any Haw shipments...sigh.

My Gasteraloe cv. Royal Highness is actually from Lowes, though! A miraculous find.

Agave lophantha 'Quadricolor' I love too. It was a gift from a friend, and certainly a surprise! I haven't lost any gift plants from friends as of yet, so I consider myself lucky in that way.

As far as my personal experience, Aloes really could use some sun, but then again, my windows stink and don't let in much sun...though, my Gasteraloe actually bloomed for the first time while basically in the house, to my surprise, before the greenhouse was built. The A. variegata's light needs I've read are in the range of partial to full sun, depending on the region, but I do have a friend who has one (it's her only succulent, actually) and has had it in her bay window for a couple years, and it will bloom for her. She gets a pretty nice amount of light in her windows, and she will stick it outside during the summer because it looks best in full sun. Her concern is it becoming pale and leggy, which nobody really wants. The saving grace for my neighbor's plant is likely that she is prone to plant neglect and is careful about watering, as to avoid rot during the winter months. And I understand semi-cool temps (say, in the 50s) in the winter may help promote flowering.

Oh, not 'Royal Highness,' eh? Well, I'm embarrassed! I'd asked for help here when I found that plant, and the conclusion was likely that (I guess I needed you then, Rosemarie!). Blooming plant on the left, is what I am referring to.

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Here's the bloom.

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And also, Rosemarie, about that Gasteraloe, the edges of the plant are toothy, in addition to just a few teeth that begin at the end of each leaf and continue down the outside of the leaves just a small ways before the leaves become entirely smooth...if that is even remotely clear. The larger part of the leaves is smooth.

Gifts from friends are really nice. I too got a Agave Quad as a gift.
That Aloe is very nice indeed. I think I'll have to start making room for one myself.

Your agaves are healthy looking and just wonderful to see. The sure look like they are making a lot of pups so you should be swamped in plants soon. Didn't see Margot exploring in what must be a wonderful forest for her. Did notice your collection of aeoniums in the back, and the closeups were delicious. So fresh looking. What is the name of that varigated on in your last photo? I think I have that one but it's not pupping.
Penny

Pretty sure I have seen the variegated Aeonium in your pictures you've shared, Penny, and it's Aeonium castello-paivae f. variegata 'Suncup.' It's an adorable plant. I'll sure it'll eventually pup for you!

I sure do hope the Agaves continue to do well with me... and Stanley, you much deserve whatever gifts you receive.

Oh, Margot will not be going in the greenhouse, lol. Our cats are only inside the house, and I don't think it'd be using my brightest brain cells to ever bring one of the cats into the plant play room. I worry just about Margot and the Haworthia I have in the house...a whole fun room might be too scary.

Unrelatedly, three fighting hummingbirds flew in the greenhouse as I was heading out this morning...and three hours later... What a mess that was to get them out.

Hello, again, Colleen! That's the one I was talking about. Now...there are 2 that are close in looks. Yours does not seem to have a ridge down the backside of the leaves, so I believe it is xGasteraloe beguinii (some list as 'Beguinii'-but the word should not be Latinized if it's a cultivar/hybrid name). Your blooms are very pale, but that could be from its growing condition or perhaps it will darken up a bit. See link at bottom for example of this one.
This one is purported to be (Aloe aristata x Gasteria carinata v. verrucosa)

The other I thought it might be (with a ridge on the back of the leaves) is an xGasteraloe (Aloe aristata x Gasteria batesiana-as far as anyone knows). I have a couple of these.

Last time I tried to insert a link, it didn't work, EDIT: Okay, the folks here won't allow me to put the link to that other garden forum, so you can do a search yourself... partial url below
.com/guides/pf/showimage/148312/
In your search put: Aloe aristata x Gasteria, and it ought to come up

I had a link to blooms of one of these a few minutes ago, & now I can't find it. Eeeee...think I need a nap!

Hope this helps!
~Rosemarie

Here is a link that might be useful: xGasteraloe beguinii

Absolutely does help? And does it get tiring constantly having to set me straight? lol. I can definitely agree on the ID, and I so appreciate it.

I know that mysterious outlawed garden forum you speak of and was able to put together the URL to the image. :)

Thanks so much, Rosemarie...yet again!

Rather, "absolutely does help!" No question mark there!

Great! Glad you figured out how to do what you needed to get to the place to go!

I am happy to help, especially when it is appreciated! There was a time I answered questions (doing lots of research in the process) & there was not a peep back-no TY whatsoever. I didn't know if the OP ever came back to check or what. That got real old, real fast. I mean, what's the point?

Oh Noooo, on the fighting hummers! :P I'll bet that was a sight!

I don't usually have time...well, I've been playing hooky instead of doing my list...so that's piling up!

Anyway, it seems there are lots of nice folks visiting/using the forum these days, so (for now) I'll stick around!

Yep. You're right. I have Suncup, but yours is so nice I thought it might be a bigger version of it. Mine haven't grown or done anything in the 8 months I've had it. It just sits there. I'm just green with envy of your plants!

Penny

Penny, if you're over in California, you're probably the person to envy! :) I remember a photo you posted of a big cluster of green Aeoniums with quite large rosettes that were just gorgeoussss. So please, do post your plant pics! I always look at pics of large A.s growing in Calif., particularly in the ground, and it makes me feel like such a pathetic little grower, haha.

I remember your 'Suncup' picture, and it was quite stunning. While not having as many branches and rosettes, I think, the plant itself looked to be taller and larger than mine. Mine's a tiny little thing still; the green Aeoniums in the pot with it are on their way to towering over. The aphids are trying really dang hard to ruin the niceness.

Rosemarie, please, yes, stick around these parts. It'd be a big loss if you were to depart. Certainly there's no point of responding to jerks who don't say their thank-yous and it's draining and enough to say "oh, screw it," but hopefully that won't be happening around here with the current folk.

Amen.