Any of those three are good, and you also might consider Aloe conifera, and of the Aloe capitata subspecies, or Aloe rupestris. There's the Institute of Aloe Studies in your area from which you can get them, I think.

For smaller ones, Aloe cremnophylla and Aloe acutissima are great, too.

There are so many!

I meant to link to this place in your area of the world:

Here is a link that might be useful: IAS

Yes, being in SF, you could grow A. polyphylla well, which is harder to grow in socal. I've grown A. plicitalis.

Try also Aloe reitzii, A. greenii, and A. vanbalenii. I love Agave cv 'Blue Glow'--easy grower, looks great all year and in with the large aloes.

'Hercules' is a fast grower, but you will get cold damage on the leaves if it is not sheltered.

A small grove of Aloe thraskii would be quite a spectacle.

x

Here are a few of my favorite Aloes... I had to stop at the letter 'H' as there were getting too many photos... can finish up some other day.

Aloe aculeata
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Aloe alooides
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Aloe barberae (if you got the room)
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Aloe betsileensis
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Aloe broomii (this is variety tarkaensis, but the other variety is nice, too)
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Aloe cameronii (mine never get quite this red- I water them too much)
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Aloe capitata
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Aloe cryptopoda (var. wickensii)
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Aloe dichotomas in the landscape (this is one of my very favorite Aloes)
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Aloe excelsa
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Aloe fleurentiorum (if you like weird colored Aloes)
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Aloe framesii (this photo doesn't do them justice)
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Aloe globulogemma (if you like unique Aloe flowers)
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Aloe harlana (this is the real thing, not that A hemmingii sold everywhere as Aloe harlana)
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Aloe hereroensis
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Here is Aloe fleurentiniorum... accidentally uploaded A excelsa in its place

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Oooh, Aloe dichotoma and A. alooides look superb. I can certainly make room for tree sized aloes - I have almost an acre. I bet they take decades to get that big though.

The Aloe fleurentiniorum next to the similarly colored rock is otherworldly!

Most tree aloes do not take decades to be come nice sized plants... here are four examples in my own yard below:

Aloe dichotoma in July 05 and in March 10
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Aloe excelsa in 5-05 and again March 10
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Aloe vaombe in December 03 (grew this one from seed 2 years earlier) and again March 10 (unfortunately growing up against Aloe barberae which I was hoping would grow a lot faster than it), and lastly a photo of its flowers
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And my Aloe barberae in Feb 06 in a small one gal pot, and later January 10
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Add all of the above and any you don't have!!!
Tally HO!