Maturity (time), good growing conditions, and/or terribly stressful conditions. What makes anything else reproduce?

Ninecrow, if you are inquiring about aloe grown as houseplants, they may never flower for you. I believe that insufficient full sun is the limiting factor. Our aloe plants can languish in relative good condition on a sunny window sill but those conditions don't come close to full, overhead sunlight.

Factor in the other growing conditions that these plants need for robust good health, plus maturity and you have the happy equation.

I wonder about how much sunlight one can achieve in your part of the country, especially in the winter months when aloe are gathering the energy resources needed for flowering in the very early spring.

Actually I had a household aloe flower last summer (unexpectedly), it was about 5-7 years old and had lived for the last two years in a south-facing unshaded picture window. Of course from what I hear, the amount of sunshine I get is not at all comparable with that of England.

It had became a household only aloe because last time it was out (4 years ago?), a rabbit gnawed the whole planting to the soil line.

I referred to that because many plants approaching death will try one last time to reproduce. I can't say I've seen any aloes do that though :)

d,

I know exactly what you meant, and death throes are a beautiful thing to witness, but IME Aloes aren't such drama queens.

That's an agave isn't it? :)

Indeed it is - A. montana singing its swan song, illustrating the beautiful death throe quite well, IMO..

The link is to Greg Starr (photographer)'s nursery of this and others.

Agave Montana and Related Great Plants

That's a natural life-cycle for agaves though. Not really the 'I'm about to die, so I should try to propagate'. It's really kinda sad to think that the plant may grow so many years, to then completely blow it's sugar supply in producing a giant asparagus for one season.

For most plant's it's always the light cycle. It could be when a plant has over 14 hours of daylight, then that light diminishes to lets say 6 or 8 for example . Or the reverse can also be true.