Discover 20 Types of Aloe to Decorate Your Home and Garden

Learn about the types of aloe vera you can grow at home to fill your home with color. Here are 20 options to consider.

Did you know that there are several types of aloe? The truth is that there are different varieties depending on the country and the region. Hundreds of them have been discovered and classified, all with unique characteristics.

Of this large number, only four have  confirmed medicinal properties so far. Apart from wellness, though, they all happen to be decorative and beautiful. That´s why they´re increasingly used in gardens and even indoors.

If you want to know more about all the different varietes of aloe out there, then keep reading, because we will tell you all about the types of aloe you can grow at home.

Types of aloe to decorate your garden

Aloe vera is a plant that´s been used for hundreds of years as a source of alternative medicine. According to scientific articles, it has antioxidant and antiseptic properties, as well as moisturizing, depurative and laxative properties.

In this article, we´re going to list some of the types of aloe that, besides sharing these properties, have characteristics that make them beautiful plants with which you can decorate your garden or home.

1. Aloe arborescens

Aloe arborescens is known in many ways. In some areas, it´s candelabra aloe; in others, aloe arborescens or simply octopus plant. Its leaves grow in rosette form, are lanceolate, fleshy and have spikes on the outline.

The color is bright green on the leaves and blooms in winter with very striking orange flowers. It can be grown in pots or directly in the garden in a semi-shaded area.

It resists cold much better than heat.

2. Aloe brevifolia

Aloe brevifolia, also known as “crocodile tooth”, has very striking leaves that are gray-green and grow in a triangular shape. They have spikes that look like teeth, hence its popular name.

Flowering occurs in spring, when its stems reach about 50 centimeters in length. From there come out its pretty, bright red, bell-shaped flowers.

3. Aloe ferox

Aloe ferox is one of the types of aloe with an unusual shape. It looks more like a tree, because as it grows, it leaves a long stem from which the leaves and flower stalks are supported.

It´s very common to see it adorning parks and gardens due to its easy care and the beauty of its flowers, which are small, clustered and elongated orange-red. Expect its bloom during the winter.

4. Aloe saponaria

Aloe saponaria or Aloe maculata is endemic to South Africa and looks great thanks to its rosette-shaped, broad, fleshy leaves. It has a variety in color, becoming bluish-green or reddish-brown with white spots and brown spiny edges.

Although it can be grown in the garden, it´s recommended that it be grown in pots for better development.

5. Aloe barbadensis

Aloe barbadensis is one of the most beautiful types that you can know and have in your home.

Yes, this is the most common of all, known simply as “aloe vera” or”aloe”. Its medicinal properties come from its components, as indicated by a 2020 analysis. It is rich in amino acids, vitamins and enzymes. The greatest nutritional, medicinal and aesthetic value is in the crystal that is exposed when the skin is removed from the leaves.

These are long and green, quite hard and sword-shaped, with a sharp point and spikes on the outline. They grow close to the ground and develop one around the other in a spiral shape.

Growing this type of aloe at home is a great idea because you can take advantage of its properties, but also because it will give you a visual spectacle when it blooms. FA flowering stem that at the tip has several small flowers in a cylindrical shape blooms from the inside of the plant.

6. Aloe juvenna

Aloe juvenna is small and can be kept in a garden, at home or even in an office. Its leaves grow well grouped and vertically, forming a rosette of green color with very striking white spots; it also has tiny thorns on its leaves.

The best time to grow it is spring and summer, because the cold is very harmful. It does not survive frost.

Although it is very small, it blooms beautifully and rarely for its size. Its flowers are long and rod-shaped and the stem is large for the size of the flowers that come out clustered and bell-shaped orange-red.

14 other types of aloe to decorate your home

Next, we´ll briefly describe other types of aloe that are beautiful and very useful. Among them are the four main medicinal species:

• Aloe vera or barbadensis
• Candelabrum or Aloe arborescens
• Saponaria or Aloe maculata
• Aloe ferox

1. Aloe aristata: This is a small variety that does not exceed 15 to 30 centimeters in diameter.
2. Aloe striata: Its particularity is that it has no thorns.
3. Variegata: This also known as “partridge breast” and is the ideal size to be cultivated indoors.
4. Aloe deltoideodonta: This is distinguished by its star shape and green color with small white spots.
5. Aloe ciliaris grows best in sandy or gravel soils, which guarantees the drainage they need.
6. Plicatilis is also known as “fan aloe.” It grows in very cold and humid areas, as well as hot and dry spaces.
7. Vaombe: This is a large evergreen aloe that grows in a hanging form.
8. Spiral is native to the Maluti Mountains, it is also known as Aloe polyphylla. Its leaves grow in a large spiral shape.
9. Aloe squarrosa: This is slow growing and is a good idea to keep indoors. Its small but leafy.
10. Blue elf: Its name comes from its size and color. It grows in small blue-green rosettes with flowering stems from which red leaves emerge.
11. A. cameronii: This is native to Zimbabwe and Malawi. It stands out because, with proper care, it can live up to 40 years.
12. Aloe marlothii comes from South Africa and reaches a height of 3 meters.
13. African aloe: This is distinguished by the margins of its leaves, which are reddish in color. Its buds are orange, although they change color to a redder color when they open.
14. Aloe dorotheae is native to Tanzania. It´s characterized by its light green color with reddish tips.

Which types of aloe were you already familiar with?

You´re probably already had contact with many of these types of aloe but didn’t know they were different. Or perhaps you weren´t aware that there were so many different types of aloe out there. Because of their sizes, shapes, and colors, they are sometimes confused with other species, such as succulents.

The important thing is that, if you´ve made the decision to give a new look to your garden by growing different types of aloe, you now have an extensive list of options to consider. So, which one captivated you the most?