Growing Aloe Helenae

Aloe Helenae is one of my favorite, smaller tree aloes. It hails from the coasts of southern Madagascar and as you might guess does well in similar environments when grown in cultivation. It's long, graceful, recurved leaves are a light, olive green color and once big enough I imagine this plant would make an excellent focal point in a coastal garden.

 

Aloe helenae about 8 to 10 yrs old - late March 2025

My plant was originally purchased from The Institute for Aloe Studies, grown outdoors in a pot, planted in the ground for a year where it struggled in dry and sunny corner of our Mid-SF Peninsula yard, dug up, transplanted to a 15ga container and left in a corner with filtered light. Several years later it was moved to a greenhouse in Halfmoon Bay, CA. where it has patiently been waiting for a bigger home.

I was pleasantly surprised back in February when I noticed a flower stalk forming for the first time ever!

Bloom stalk first spotted on February 15th

 

Unfortunately Aloe helenae, like it's Madagascan relative Aloe vaombe, seems to be a favorite of ants and their pet aphids. I've had to keep an eye on the tender, young leaves in the crown of this Aloe helenae as it's prone to aphid infestation. The white spots in the image above are aphid carcasses remaining after I sprayed with a 70% isopropyl alcohol solution. 

 

A week later on February 21st

March 18th and almost in open flower mode

 

March 20th and finally the flowers have opened

I'm glad this plant is finally happy enough (or maybe just mature enough) to bloom. I suspect future blooms will be bigger if I can transplant this specimen into a larger container with fresh soil.

 

Flowers lasted just a few days during a surprise hot spell.

I didn't have a chance to pollinate the flowers before we got hit with some unseasonably warm weather and the greenhouse hit 95° F. Sadly just about all the flowers all faded that day.

 

Lets go back in a few years and take a look at how this particular plant has grown.

A few years earlier living in a cluttered backyard

Even a few yrs ago it was ready for a bigger home

Every yard has it's own micro-climates and ours is no exception. Once I moved this young tree aloe from the ground to a corner with filtered light and regular watering it was much happier.

 

Several years earlier after a wet Winter and as the Spring was just underway it seemed robust but unfortunately the mild weather didn't last. This Aloe helenae didn't seem to care for the hot and dry summer months we can have here roughly 20 miles south SF and just over the coastal ranges from the Pacific Ocean. 

 

Shortly after planting

Aloe helenae on the far right

In the year or so after purchasing this Aloe helenae I gave it time to develop in a small nursery pot. Like most tree aloes it grows relatively quickly.

As far as I can tell, while Aloe helenae isn't commonly found in production it isn't "rare" anymore. Honestly, I'm not sure how to quantify "rare" when it comes to aloes. If you browse plants on Etsy it seems like every plant is rare. San Marcos Growers has been propagating it for several years (and they probably sourced parent stock from IAS) but with their closing this plant will likely become harder to source. 

 

I've read that in it's native habitat Aloe helenae keeps an upright single headed form and does not commonly produce offsets. In cultivation it seems to produce more offsets simply because the trait has been reinforced thru propagated (yours truly is guilty)

A few Aloe helenae grown from parent offsets - July 2024

Above you can see the grandchild of the flowering specimen plant shyly peaking around a fading leaf. I believe this particular plant sold to a collector last year - and so the cycle continues!

 Until next time - happy plant collecting.