Aloe ‘Erik the Red’

In a small nursery one afternoon, we watched how a customer who had come in looking for ‘something special’ fell in love with a whole batch of newly delivered Aloe ‘Erik the Red’.

They were in glorious flower and he just could not resist them – he bought them all. ‘Erik the Red’ is a large aloe that bears sprays of deep red flowers in late winter. It is part of a modern range of aloe hybrids called Sunbird Aloes. The range comprises many different varieties – from small, to medium, to very large specimens. These hybrids flower prolifically at different times of the year and the spectrum of colours is extraordinary, certainly not what one would usually expect from aloes. Steel yourself if you come across them!