Aloe barberae tree aloe

Aloe barberae tree aloe

 Aloe barberae below is not from a harsh habitat
and an easy tree aloe to grow in a garden.
The range of this aloe is a broad coastal zone from East
London in South Africa northwards up to Mozambique. 

Above:-  This is a group of trees planted together.
Here it is growing very well  in the winter rainfall  frost free climate.  Aloe barberae does not like frost but even there you will find them in gardens in Namaqualand or in the Karoo botanical garden where there is frost.  The secret is that it is dry frost and the trees were protected by other plants or against a house. Wet and cold kills most aloes. 
This tree grows high.  

Here is Aloe barberae as a single tree planted next to
Aloe marlothii to the left and Aloe ferox to the right - Both species are also described as tree aloes and are about 3 metres on the photo but the aloes grow larger than that.  They seem shorter because of their width, but they are large and heavy!
The photo was taken in the botanical garden near
Worcester.  The Aloe barberae tree grows on a hill where the cold air will move downhill quickly.  This climate is very dry compared to the habitat of Aloe barberae which proves again that this is an easy aloe to grow.

Photo above is a group of trees planted together.  Here the trees are growing in winter rainfall and still going strong.  This is a very adaptable aloe.

tree aloe Aloe littoralis

 Aloe littoralis  tree aloe   growing in our aloe and succulent water saving garden Aloe litorallis is a tree aloe that may grow at least to 3 meter high.  It is special in that it blooms very young and small for a tree aloe.  

The aloe in centre front is an Aloe aculeata x Aloe zebrina hybrid.  It grows without problem but I would have liked it to bloom more often than skipping a year ever so often. 

It is a pity that the aloe and messemb do not bloom together for the photos. 
The messembs should be beautiful this year.
  
Below Aloe littoralis in habitat that is near Windhoek Namibia .

The inflorescence of Aloe litorallis is impressive as is the whole plant.

Aloe speciosa the aloe that turns it's rosette facing to the north.

The size of the raceme is 43 cm long and 27 cm around.
That is not remarkable for this species but it is very pretty on a young plant with a stem that is not over a meter high.
Aloe speciosa starts off growing upright like any other aloe, but it soon turns the rosette sideways facing north.

Aloe speciosa blooming in the Karoo. This aloe is a tree aloe, these plants would roughly measure between 3 and
5 meter in hight. The record is 6 meter.

Windhoek Namibia

aloe littoralis the pride of Windhoek Namibia. Aloe littoralis is on the emblem of Windhoek city. Aloe littoralis is a tall tree aloe hardy from below freezing to sizzling summer temperatures. The outstanding point about Aloe littoralis for the garden is that it blooms from a young age.
Windhoek is the capital city of Namibia. This neat clean city without smog, is situated between mountains on an uneven hilly terrain. Wild animals like the Kudu, jackal and different small mongooses can be seen in the hills around the city, especially in times of drought.









The habitat of Aloe littoralis is North- western  Province of South Africa, all the way up through Namibia up to Angola, to the east into Botswana and a short distance into the northern Province of South Africa. Photo below shows the dry winter scene in Namiba. Aloe littoralis blooms early winter before frost can damage the blooms and seeds.












A visit to the botanical garden in Windhoek is certainly worth the effort for succulent plant enthusiasts and anybody who would enjoy to see the endemic trees and rare plants of Namibia. The botanical garden covers a large area over the hill with walking trails.



























Aloe dewinterii planted in the botanical garden the same way as it grows in the natural habitat - hanging from cliffs.

Windhoek.
The baboons tend to be a dangerous nuisance. They are cute to look at, but they can attack and the males are large enough to kill a human or dog. The photo below is from a large handsome male who saw the ripe papaw in the garden and decided that it was just what he wanted. We did not want to agitate him so we took the photo through the kitchen window. This gives the impression that he is behind bars, but we were strictly speaking behind the bars not him.








The wild life in and around Windhoek includes many cute animal like this gecko.












Gorgeous little fellow. Those large eyes are handy for his nightlife adventures. He can run on the ceiling by tiny slits under his feet that form a suction on the substrate. His feet feel like velvet if he is on your hand. I do hope the old tale that they are poisonous has been cleared in modern times. He will hiss to try and defend himself and his bite feels like a soft pinch. It does not even leave a red mark, far from drawing blood, let alone the ridiculous poison tale.  My guess is the hissing reminded people of a snake and from there the poisonous tale.






The little gecko will run if he is on a wall but on this carpet he thinks that he will disappear like when he is on the bark of a tree, so he remains still. This works out fine in nature on a camelthorn tree but at night on a carpet some-one will step on him. Consequently any gecko on the carpet, no matter how cute he looks, is put outside.