Thanks woodnative! That makes me glad to hear it! Mari11-- oh that is certainly encouraging. I am glad you posted your experience! Makes me feel excited lol. Cactusmharris-- oh interesting-- I must have always just missed her! I wonder where in the country she is. the NW corner is Mediterranean in climate, whereas the rest of the country is desert. So I'd get about twice the rain as most of the places. That's great since mostly people cannot afford to irrigate and rely on rainwater. Your hedge sounds so lovely! The winter rains in Jordan are associated with cool/cold temps... with the average minimum at 41. My husband says it does freeze about once every 10 years, but never has it gotten below 32 in anyone's memory. And that freeze is just a few hours in the early morning. They get all their rain Nov-May, and in that area it's about 16-19 inches. It's enough that they don't need to irrigate even the summer crops as long as they start them in the rainy season-- like tomatoes and such. I was reading about people's watering habits of A. arborescens in San Juan Capistrano, and they mentioned watering deeply maybe once every month or so in the summer. I noticed they get half the rain we would. I'll have to play it by ear, but it looks really promising. This thread has made my day LOL.

Our winters are drier than coastal Californian winters. We normally get our rains spread out throughout the year with heavier fall and May/june rains. It can rain any time or not at all. Mostly it is zone 9. The lowest it got last year was was 26 degrees. We are also very warm with an occasional sharp swing down for three days. Our normal lows are in the 40's in December and January with a occasion arctic blast that could take us down to 19 but hasn't for several years. I am still experiencing lows in the 60's. Our rainfall can vary from 34" to 11" per year. When it is really cold it is very dry. I have studied Daves Garden , Arid lands and San Marcus growers hardiness estimates and that is why I am taking a chance. I live in the uplands of the area and drainage is almost too much. Many plants live on my land that do not reside downhill. It is also colder downhill. I have many Zone 9 plants living unprotected. I have a gorge that starts on my property that drains off the cold and deposits it 4 miles away in a friends backyard. She can be 24 degrees and I will be above freezing still. She is at 700' above sea level and I am at 1400'. I guess it is all about micro climates. I am still figuring this one out. I hear about the popularity of Aloes in Californian landscaping and Texas seems similar in some respects but lags far behind in testing these plants out. I am only now figuring out how Californian winters and summers differ from mine and trying to make judgements about plants that would or would not work here.. I have some friends in and around California and this year I have been following their weather on Weatherunderground and comparing highs and lows with me. Yes, I am obsessive. I do have freeze cloths. They do work wonders. I guess I am one to take chances.

Hi Joe California :) Saw your post about the aloe. I'm looking to use this plant in my landscape and was wondering if you could share a little more info. I noticed at the San Marcos Growers site that they have 2 yellow aloe arborescens, one is the 'Lutea' you speak of and the other is Yellow Torch Aloe or 'Yellow Torch'. There seems to be no difference really except that it says 'Lutea' reaches 9 ft. and the other 6-8 ft. and it seems the regular Yellow Torch has less curved foliage... hmmm. Anyway, could you please tell me how tall and wide the ones in your garden grow? Also, how fast is the growth? Do the clumps form close to the ground? I'd greatly appreciate all info you care to share :-) I have a 6'x3' area that I'd like to have the aloe as a main foundation in... I was also recommended an aloe striatula plant which grows to 3-5 ft. here. Anyone have experience with these? Here is a link that might be useful: Aloe Striatula

Not sure how the plant was identified as an Aloe arborescens. Leaves (even despite the lack of teeth) does not look like an Aloe arborescens rosette. Looks more like Aloe pulcherrima, a much rarer, but certainly toothless plant that has a lot of smaller leaves like your plant in the photo above. Color is likely just due to stress. by the way, there are several other spineless aloes, too: Aloe reynoldsii, sheilae, inermis, fleurentinorium, kommagasensis, kahinii, haemanthifolia, buhrii and scobinifolia (and possibly some of the smaller grass aloes).