Zowie! Those are such cool plants and yours is particularly big and beautiful!

Awesome! That is a beautiful plant, and yours is an exceptionally nice specimen.

So,its 23 years old? That's Great to hear. Interesting to hear of a non Tree Aloe living so long. My Aloe polyphylla is 7 and has had one set back in that time..but seems to be on the right track again.

So..this post of yours is inspirational!

It's at least 23 years old. I usually record the date of purchase for all my plants but for some reason I forgot to put this one in my database, but I do have photos of it dating back to 1995 and it was about half that size then.

What sort of environment is yours growing in? Has yours flowered?

Mine is in a 16" black pot that is in full sun..but..the sun is on it for awhile,it gets shady,they later get sun again as it gets out of the shade of a large Ash tree.

I lost about 2-3 years of good growth when I planted it in the ground in full sun and in my clay soils- not too heavy for most plants,but the Aloe hated it and nearly died..folded like a Artichoke one summer,then I dug it out. In one week,it looked better.

Today's pics. One day,- I hope- they will be like your brute.

I want to update this thread with some photos taken today. My spiral aloe has developed a second plant and then a third plant! The first offset started two and a half years ago and then the second followed soon after. They grew like they were on steroids! I had waited almost twenty years for the mother plant to bloom, but the older of the twins bloomed along with the mother plant last late spring/early summer. I don’t have room for a colony so I will need to separate them.

I consulted with a spiral aloe expert and they said it could take about two years and the new plants look like they would want to separate from the mother plant. It’s been about two and a half years and it really looks like they are ready to do just that so I am trying to figure out where to stuff the twin “babies” while they recover from being moved. The twins still look very much inseparable so I suspect it will be another year before I can separate them. They look really heavy and they have thorns at the leaf tips so I’m not sure how we are going to manage this job....

Has anyone separated their spiral aloe and can offer some advice?

Those plants are beautiful!

I'm so jealous :-) Spiral aloe is one plant that I covet but is not easy to lay one's hands on in my area. I may be forced to mail order but I'd really like something larger than a 4" pot.......

I haven’t checked hardiness for these plants but I’ve seen photos of them covered in snow, so presumably they are suitable for a PNW garden. They are a show stopper in my garden and no special care required except regular water and good drainage, so, just sayin’ ;-), I think they are worth a little extra effort to acquire.

According to Annie's and San Marcos, hardy down to zone 7b. So it should survive in my garden :-) But I have very little inground space at all and would most likely plant in a container, which could then be moved in winter to a more protected location......at least out of the worst of the rain.

And I bet the stupid deer would leave it alone ;-)

”Very little in ground space“ definitely resonates with me! I really have no idea where I can move the soon to be detached twins. I will have to wait to separate the twins as they are still too tightly connected to each other so will need quite a bit of garden space. Which I don’t have! I might have to have my husband make a shallow but extra wide container.

OT Q. what it the very tall stalk of purple flowers in the background of the first photo?

Common foxglove, Digitalis purpurea.

Thank you! It looks like you have a beautiful garden.

I wouldn't touch it! Looks great,few if anybody else in the bay area has a clump. I do know that in a few short years,UC Berkeley went from a a few giant ones to none. I'm guessing flowering is near the end of their life span. So,you might want to leave them be.

Aloes do need to reach a certain maturity to bloom....usually reported as around 4 years. But they will continue to bloom annually indefinitely thereafter, provided they are given the proper growing conditions. Lifespan can be decades :-)

Like I said,all of UC Berkeley's biggest and best are all gone. They never mention why in their newsletter. Could have been gophers or phytophthora,or just old age.

That old age thing worries me! My parent plant might be as old as 30 years. It was a decent size when I bought it.

The good news is that I have finally found a site in my garden for the twins. I’d forgotten that we took out a Japanese maple earlier this year because it had outgrown its spot in my small garden as well as outwitted my best attempts to prune it aesthetically. It’s a perfect site with regular water and some afternoon shade.

If the twins survive separation and moving they are young and I shouldn’t have to worry about losing them to old age. But I hope I don’t lose the parent either!