Aloes really have earned the prime spot in many modern gardens. The new hybrids are favoured by landscape architects for their durability and structural prowess. Aloes come in many, many shapes and sizes, but it is their fiery-coloured poker flowers that really make them a valuable asset. The long Aloe flowers are bird and insect attracting and last for extended periods when not much else is happening in the garden.
Featured: 'Big red'
Welcome to the beautiful garden of Paula Herbert. Paula is part of the Brookfield Gardens team and has worked here for many years. Her exciting Mount Crosby garden is a journey of discovery and her clever design aesthetic is on display in every corner. Paula loves Aloes and has used them in the sunny parts of her garden. They really stand out in the cooler months of the year.
Here 'Ruby Blaze' sits pretty in a low, white bowl. Aloes in pots require very little if any attention making them a great choice for dry conditions. Paula has used Lilly Pilly trimmed into rounds with lots of grasses as contrast.
This fabulous specimen is called 'Copper Shower' from the 'Aloe-Aloe' hybrid range.
This guy, 'Eric the Red', is planted alongside a fence. He has a softer companion, Carex feather falls grass. The lighter finer foliage contrasts sharply against the spikes and bright flowers of the Aloe.
Paula has planted 'Eric the Red' here again in a very sunny dry spot in the garden at the top of a slope. This Aloe is surrounded by Lomandra verday and salt bush.
On this little deck to an outside office Paula has potted up 'Spots and Dots' and 'Little Lemon'.
Close by another taller pot with a Dragon Tree draceana. Paula repeatedly uses many different types of grasses through her garden - the one with the light feathery long grass heads is a type of miscanthus. Again the grasses work in contrast against clipped hedges and balls of Lilly Pilly.
Close up spots on the tendrils of Aloe 'Spots and Dots'
This Aloe hybrid 'Moonglow' is putting on the most incredible display. This is Paula's favourite and for good reason - it's lime spikes are a profusion and riot of colour. A mature plant has one of the best flower to plant ratios of all hybrids in the Aloe-Aloe collection.
Aloes with their striking bold and modern floral and architectural forms puts them in the horticultural spotlight as plants of the future. This part of Paula's garden is home to some cactus friends, the Aloe looks fabulous as a bright spikey backdrop.
In this Brookfield garden, Aloes are planted more closely together in a fire storm of prickly tendrils. They are happy in the dry soil underneath Australian native trees facing the exposed western sun.
Aloes are able to withstand the harsh Australian climate by storing water and food within swollen leaves and roots. They are easy to grow and are resistant to disease and pests.
Fabulous cast iron urn giving interest in the hot corner facing the afternoon sun.
Red spikes appear through strappy lomandra and dieties grasses, the birds love them. A few stones allude to a path of discovery.
The Aloe flower spikes match the backdrop of pencil pine Cyprus bordering this Brookfield garden.
Lots of Lomandra planted alongside the aloes.
Wonderful Aloes, they really do deserve a permanent prime spot in a pot on your hot sunny balcony, or sun-drenched part of your garden.
