Looking further into "Guide to the Aloes of South Africa" I note that there are a few "bulbous" Aloe. A. kniphofioides is one such, with red flowers; hardy to ca. -4°C/+25°F; it is one of the Grass Aloes. The others are A. modesta, a Grass Aloe with greenish-yellow flowers; and A. inconspicua, a Grass Aloe with green flowers. A. modesta can tolerate temperatures that dip below freezing, but A. inconspicua cannot. Thus demonstrating that Aloe are not off-topic for a bulb list to discuss! If you want a copy of this book, try Rod & Rachel Sanders' Silverhill Seeds & Books or the bookshop at Kirstenbosch National Botanic Garden in Cape Town. Both do mail-order sales and accept credit cards. More details in http://shieldsgardens.com/GLOVBulbs/SOURCES.html/ Jim Shields At 07:17 PM 11/26/2004 -0500, you wrote: >Hi, > >Some aloes are deciduous in the wild, growing in summer rainfall areas and >dying back in winter. They are typically hardy (as aloes go) for 2 >reasons: 1) >the top dies back and the root behaves like a bulb, and 2) they typically >come from higher elevations. > >I am growing several species of these "grass" aloes and have found the, so >far, to be easy and durable. They are not "bulbs," but because they die >back to >a perennial rootstock; because they leaf out in warm weather and have such >wonderful flowers, I think of them as bulb-type garden plants. > >I purchased seed from Silverhill seed about 2 years ago of A. cooperi, A. >ecklonis, and A. myriacantha (apparently these are the more easily found >species). All of them should be hardy down to 15 F, and some are reported >hardy in to >zone 7. > >I'm not sure what is a grass aloe and what is a bulb aloe, but they are >similar; it is my understanding that both are deciduous-but I'm not >sure. I think >that bulb aloes actually make a more pronounced storage organ. The leaves of >grass aloes are succulent. Here, near Houston, TX, the 3 species from >Silverhill germinated easily indoors under lights (room temperature), and >grew >easily. They really enjoyed our hot Texas summer, and the rain-never >seeming to get >too much water or sun. They responded well to fertilizer and really seemed >to enjoy it when I moved them from seedling pots/media into a 90% mineral mix >(30% lava rock, 30% perlite, 30% coarse sand, 10% humus). They are about >20-24 >months old now and I've potted them up several times. I plan to keep to or 3 >of each type and find homes for the extras. > >Last year I protected them from rain during winter; they never got bone dry >due to splash and spray but the leaves mostly died down. This year I will >let >them stay out in the garden, in 1- or 2-gallon containers over the winter. >Perhaps if we have mild frosts again they will remain evergreen or perhaps >they >will die down. > >They are such strong growers that I'm hopeful some will bloom next summer. >If nothing else I want to try their pollen on the other aloes that tolerate >Houston (e.g., maculata, arborescens, striatula). > >LINK: Aloe cooperi page at Plantzafrica.com >http://plantzafrica.com/plantab/aloecooperi.htm/ > >LINK: Aloe striatula page at Plant Delights Nursery >http://plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/… > >Oh yeah, I sure would like to find seed of more species of grass (or bulb) >aloes; if you have some to sell or trade please contact me. > > >Cordially, > >Conroe Joe >ConroeJoe@aol.com >71 F high today in Conroe, TX: 55 F predicted for overnight low >humidity: 85% at 6:00 p.m. >_______________________________________________ >pbs mailing list >pbs@lists.ibiblio.org >http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php ************************************************* Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd. P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA