Aloe 'Delta Lights' - A stunning brightly-variegated plant that grows to 18 inches tall by about 2 feet wide with leaves that are 3 inches wide at the base and taper gently towards the tips. They are dark green in color but so heavily marked with a pale greenish-cream color, that the leaf looks to be all this color with zigzagging green horizontal bands. Mature plants blooms over a long period with dark reddish orange flowers rising on a delicately branched inflorescence from fall through spring.
We are still trying to get a feel for how best to grow this plant and while we have it in full sun in our nursery think that full morning sun might be the best in hotter inland gardens to bring out the great color but not burn the leaves. The species is pretty tough, tolerating full coastal sun and with only occasional irrigation when planted in a well-draining soil and is hardy to around 25° F. It suffers in overly wet winters, so soil drainage seems to be a key factor in keeping it good looking. It should prove to be a great plant for containers or in the ground in the garden.
Aloe 'Delta Lights' is an Aloe deltoideodonta hybrid created by Kelly Griffin when he was at Rancho Soledad Nursery that was first released in 2011. The cultivar name is a reference to the parent plant, Aloe deltoideodonta, which comes from southern central Madagascar. We sold this attractive cultivar from 2011 until 2022 and would have continued to grow it but the cool wet 2022-2023 winter was so hard on this crop that we discontinued growing it - too bad as we always liked this plant when it looked good. The image on this page courtesy of Rancho Tissue Technologies.
The information about Aloe 'Delta Lights' displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant. |