Aloe Christmas Carol

Aloe 'Christmas Carol' surprises and charms with its dark star-shaped silhouette, enhanced by vibrant colours. This succulent plant forms a low rosette consisting of long, stretched triangular leaves. Their dark green hue starkly contrasts with a red margin and a number of small bumps that punctuate its surface in yellow, orange, or purple depending on sun exposure. The plant also produces a graceful flowering made up of small tubular flowers, in red or orange, hovering above the rosette at the end of a slender floral stem. Compact, it is easily grown in a pot to protect it in winter, only plant it in the ground in areas where frost is nearly absent.

The Aloe genus has been successively classified in different plant families to now be part of the Asphodelaceae family, which includes around fifteen other genera (according to classifications), some very ornamental, such as Kniphofia (Tritoma) with its superb bright inflorescences, or the famous New Zealand Flax (Phormium), highly appreciated for its decorative ribbon-like leaves. There are over 500 species of Aloe mainly native to Africa and Madagascar, encompassing creeping plants or more rarely, tree-like ones like Aloe bainesii.
Aloe 'Christmas Carol' is a horticultural hybrid obtained by Kelly Griffin, an expert in Agave and related plants, whose exact parentage is unknown (one of the parents could be the Aloe 'Dorian Black'). This rather slow-growing variety develops in the form of a rosette which, at maturity, reaches about 30 cm in all directions, while sprouting from the base to extend and form a low clump. Its somewhat strange appearance may remind you of certain starfish found in tropical waters. This Aloe unfurls long leaves which are widest at the base, at the point of insertion into the rosette, and then gradually taper to a point at the tip, forming a very elongated triangle. These fleshy leaves tend to curve downwards or upwards, even laterally. Their colour fluctuates depending on the amount of sunlight they receive. Generally a bright to dark green, they are edged with irregular protrusions, in the form of single or double thorns, often in a crimson red which starkly contrasts with the surface. This surface is covered in numerous bumps whose colour varies between yellow, orange, or purple, completing the plant's uniqueness. 
The plant flowers in summer and often in autumn depending on the climate. A slender floral stem rises from the rosette, grey-green in colour, simple or sometimes even branched, supporting from ten to over twenty flowers. They are tubular, 2.5 to 3 cm long, consisting of fused sepals that only open at the tip and come in various colours, ranging from salmon pink to lighter or intense red. Separated from the stem by a slender petiole, the flowers possess a certain grace and provide an additional colourful touch to the plant.

A superb compact Aloe well suited for pot cultivation, 'Christmas Carol' intrigues and attracts with its original appearance. It will adorn balconies and terraces in the summer and can then be enjoyed indoors in winter, in a frost-free, bright room or conservatory. If you live in an area where frost is brief and light (-1°C to -2°C), you can integrate it into a sunny rockery to create a scene where rocks and plants coexist harmoniously. Plant it alongside other distinctive plants such as the famous Mother-in-Law's Cushion (Echinocactus grusonii), a spherical cactus covered in decorative spines, or the sculptural Agave victoriae reginae, with a rosette of rare geometric perfection made up of green leaves subtly edged in white. Cover the ground with a variety of Delosperma, low-growing succulents with generous and long-lasting flowering, and place some taller plants to add depth to your scene. A Yucca rostrata 'Sapphire Skies' with foliage even bluer than the species will form a strikingly architectural ball of vegetation after a few years in the ground, gradually rising over time.