What part of England? The Gulf Stream makes the outer west coast as mild as California.

Flora2, I'm pretty sure there are people growing this aloe outside in the PNW and in England (and not just the southern tip/Isles of Scilly), but they may be protecting it from the rain. You should be able to get seeds from Silverhill Seeds, and if you're in the US, there are probably online sources for the plant - possibly Plant Delights. I love this plant and tried growing it from seeds a few years back. I had good germination, but the seedlings died. It seemed trickier than other aloes I've grown, but maybe if I tried again... I actually just bought a small plant (it wasn't cheap at $25 and about 4 inches in diameter) from a nursery I visited in southern Ontario called Broadway Gardens. Now I'm hoping to keep it alive! Since it's so small, i intend to grow it in the greenhouse this winter. If anyone is growing this plant, it would be great to get some growing tips because I think it can be quite temperamental in terms of water. I know it wants excellent drainage.

Many succulents are frost tolerant but must have desert conditions, typically no rain in winter and a little in summer. The opposite of what we have here, with winter rain also sometimes being more than a little. Coarse soils and overhead protection indicated. Houses with wide overhangs and unobstructed south exposures can get good results.

This aloe is a little different though in that I don't think it wants to dry out at all. It grows in grassland at high elevation in Lesotho in southern Africa. It gets a lot of rain in the summer and can be covered in snow in the winter. It's an endangered species in the wild.

"Plant on a slope, since winter moisture is a bad thing!"

Here is a link that might be useful: PDN -- Aloe polyphylla

Thanks for the link, bboy. I might try it outside next winter if I don't kill it by then.;-)

They are readily available here in the San Francisco Bay Area, where they thrive as landscape plants in our cool, maritime mediterranean climate. The plants can take winter cold, but should be tipped on their side in winter if left out unprotected, as they do not get lots of precipitation in winter in habitat, as Lesotho is a summer rainfall climate. The other key growing concern is that as a container plant, the roots do not like to get hot or dry, and black plastic nursery pots can cook the roots in summer. It is probably best to grow them in glazed ceramic or wood containers, to keep the roots cooler.

A fantastically beautiful Aloe species that can certainly handle the cold of a Seattle winter, but will need careful management to avoid rotting out from too much winter rains. Also remember that this grows at altitude, with summer thundershowers, and will not like it hot and dry in summer. I'd suggest that growing it as a container plant with a cactus mix soil and time release fertilizer in an acidic mix, and keeping it cool and out of the rain in winter is best. The roots on this are extensive, so I would also suggest not trying to keep it in too small a pot as it gets bigger, especially when it can get almost 2.5 feet across when mature.

If you are down here in the San Francisco Bay Area, this plant is regularly available as one or five gallon sized plants at either The Dry Garden Nursery in Oakland on Shattuck Ave, or at Flora Grub Nursery in San Francisco in the Bayview District. There is also a grower in Santa Cruz who first made this locally available in California, as he was the first to have local seed, and does ship mail order if I am not mistaken.

In any case, this Aloe is still abit pricey, and 1 gallon sized plants will be $25 to $45 retail, but good sized and filling the pot. A 5 gallon plant can cost about $100. Still, these local prices will be cheaper than buying a small 2"/4" from Plant Delights Nursery and shipping to Washington state, especially if you will be coming to the SF Bay Area anyway...

Thanks for the detailed growing tips, Bahia. I agree that it's a spectacularly beautiful plant, and also like the idea of growing something that is endangered in its natural habitat. Do you happen to know if it offsets or flowers readily in the Bay Area?

Hi
Yes, the first thing I will do after getting off the plane (if I ever and/or whenever I go to the Bay area) will be to try to locate this plant--and then I will keep my fingers crossed (double crossed) to keep it going. Do you happen to remember the name/phone number of the grower in Santa Cruz? Thanks a lot

I'm sorry that I don't remember the name of the Santa Cruz grower, it was Alan something or other, try doing a web search. Yes, they do bloom readily here in the San Francisco Bay Area, but do not readily offset, but instead remain single specimens for the most part.

I found the info on the Santa Cruz grower, Alan Beverly of Ecoscape Nursery. He does offer mail order Aloe polyphylla, and can be contacted at :

www.ecotree.net

Bahia: Thanks for the info. Looking forward to finding and growing this. Thanks again

Looked for this plant myself when I was recently in SoCal, but although I found a number of hardy aloe, agave and other not so hardy succulents, this was nowhere to be seen - even at a cacti/succulent specialty nursery. Thanks for the link, Bahia.....I may just have to do mail order :-)) I have developed a bit of a passion for succulents and have been collecting them over the last couple of years. The hardy ones overwinter on my back porch out of direct precipitation. Also still looking for a variegated Agave americana 'Picta' or 'Medio-variegata' - the one with the large gold stripes, if anyone has a good source for these.

I just planted out a new Aloe polyphylla myself last week, and to anwer the question about blooming and pupping, no, A. polyphylla is not very forth coming with either.

As to the variegated Agaves, San Marcos Growers in Santa Barbara sells A. medio-picta alba, and I think Rancho Soledad Nursery would also have the other selections in stock. You might also see if you can special order this thru Altmann, the succulent supplier for Home Depot and OSH stores here in California. I am sure they have it, although they aren't very organized about correctly labeling their succulents.