That is a pretty cool site, thanks for sharing. Not often you see a good resource *and* a the opportunity to buy in the same place. Although, I do wish it covered hybrids and provided some culture information...

I hope you get some plants from them - they're happy to answer cultural questions.

Really, though, for us in SoCal, aren't Aloes just about the easiest thing to grow (provided a few rules are followed, i.e. the winter-growers' special treatment)?

That's one of the things that The Institute doesn't do is hybridize - they're trying to keep the species pure, particularly since Aloes cross so easily. I know several of them do have some hybrids in their respective collections, but hybrids ain't what they're about. They leave that to other folk.

I'd always been hesitant to take the "Aloe plunge" but late last year, I picked up a few KG hybrids, and ever since then, I've been hooked. It is an intimidating genus to collect, given the *huge* number of species and relative ease with which the can be acquired. That makes for an easy way to use up precious space and cash!!!

Since I can't put anything in the ground (ah, the life of a serf, err, I mean renter) the hybrids are especially attractive to me given their generally smaller size. They are also so quick to bloom that no matter how small the plant, they always seem to have flowers! I will be looking through that site for some of the miniatures though.

SoCal really is an Aloe paradise. Lots of them require no attention whatsoever, and like you said, even the ones that want to be coddled aren't very demanding.

Really, though, for us in SoCal, aren't Aloes just about the easiest thing to grow (provided a few rules are followed, i.e. the winter-growers' special treatment)?

Uh.....well.....um......no, they're not. That doesn't prevent me from trying every now and again. I may try again once the Karen Zimmerman aloes hit the market, though.

Thanks for the link, I'm drooling already.