Is this a frost hardy Aloe aristata

[Tishania]

I bought this plant at a local supermarket a few months back in the hopes it may be Aloe aristata and therefore survive the winter in my unheated greenhouse.
Now that it flowering can anyone confirm that hope.
I am more interested in whether it would be frost hardy than getting the corect name.

Regards

Ed

[Diane]

Yes it is. Should be fine in an unheated greenhouse, and may even be hardy enough to leave outside, especially as you are in Sussex.

[Tishania]

Thanks Diane for a very quick responce, that's just what I wanted to hear.

As as ex-Kingston National member I am pleased to see the branch is still going strong.

Ed

[Diane]

“As an ex-Kingston National member I am pleased to see the branch is still going strong.

Ed”


I’m afraid Kingston is NOT any longer having meetings. Along with some other branches it has now closed due to too few attendees.

[Colin Walker]

Sorry guys, but there's a name change here. If you want to be up to date with names, this is now correctly Aristaloe aristata. A uniquely monotypic genus.

And yes, it's one of the hardiest of aloes and their relatives. It flowers at a relatively small size, pups freely to make large clumps and is easily propagated so you can give away pups to your mates.

[ralphrmartin]

It ... pups freely to make large clumps and is easily propagated so you can give away pups to your mates.

Strangely, while mine was an offset of someone else's about 30 years ago, it does not seem to clump at all. I wouldn't swear it has never had an offset in those 30 years, but I can't remember that happening.

[juster]

Definitely a very hardy plant. A house near us has these planted permanently in the top of garden wall, they've been there for years, surviving all weather conditions, including downpours of rain and snow.

[MikeT]

It will depend on where in the country you are. My experience with it in Sheffield is that it will cope outside with no winter protection most years, but a particularly cold winter can kill it off.
In Sussex and Surrey, it may be fine for a higher proportion of winters.
Unless you have Ralph's non-clumping clone, just keep a few offsets in reserve in the greenhouse over winter as an insurance.

[Aeonium2003]

Should be hardy down to USDA zone 8a (I do not know what grow zone system is used in the UK)

[MikeT]

How well Aloe aristata (sorry, Colin, can't get the hang of Aristaloe) or any other plant copes with a British winter depends on more than just the lowest temperature. Some Canadian and northern USA plants may cope with temperatures way lower than we get in the UK, yet not survive outdoors in the UK. A plant that gets frozen once, covered in snow, and then thaws in the spring, may not cope with frequent freeze-thaw cycles, even though the lowest temperatures are only slightly below freezing, and nothing like as cold as a North American winter.
Camellias are said to get flower bud damage from getting early morning sun on buds frozen by frost, but the buds are OK if they defrost slowly as daytime temperatures rise. Similar factors may affect the hardiness of cacti and succulents. Garden micro-climate over quite short distances may make the difference between flourishing, surviving, and dying. A former Sheffield Branch chair had a large patch of Echeveria secunda in his garden, it thrived in the relative dryness at the base of some evergreen conifers. It won't cope with winter in my garden in wet clay soil.

With a plant that can be propagated as easily as Aloe aristata, try it in different locations in the garden. It may do well in one spot but not in another. Try the base of a south facing wall, for sun in summer and relative dryness in winter.