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Aloe chabaudii 'Dark Orange' (Dark Orange Dwala Aloe) - A clustering aloe that can form large groups with rosettes to 2 feet tall of up to 30 bluish green leaves that are often flushed with pink when grown in full sun. The leaves are broadest at their base (4 inches wide) and taper toward the tip, usually without any spots on the leaves but with grayish-white small teeth along the margins. Plants are usually acaulescent but can have a short stem. In mid-winter appear the flowering stems that rise just above the foliage in a much-branched pyramid-shaped panicle bearing up to 15 ascending racemes crowned at the tip with dark reddish orange tubular flowers – 'Dark Orange' is the latest blooming of the Aloe chabaudii we gow.
Plant in full sun to part shade - the foliage color is best in bright light but will require some protection in hotter inland locations. This plant comes from a summer rainfall climate and can thrive with occasional to regular irrigation in summer, and none other than rainfall in winter. It has proven hardy for short durations to 25°F and may prove hardier. Makes a good container plant or used in mass in a succulent garden.
Aloe chabaudii is a widespread plant with many color forms from habitat that ranges from northeastern South Africa north to Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi, where it grows on the lower slopes of hills, on rocky granite outcrops and granite kopjes, often in dense colonies. The type locality is not known but Dr. Selmar Schonland, the South African botanist, thought it to be from southern Zimbabwe (then known then as Rhodesia) when he described it in 1950. Schonland stated that "this very distinctive new species was collected by a Mr. J.M. Brown when on a hunting trip to the Zambezi. It was given by him to Mr. John A. Chabaud, in whose garden it flowered, and to whom I owe the opportunity of describing it." Other sources note that Chaubad was a well-known and enthusiastic amateur gardener from of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and it was nice that Schonland honored him by naming the plant as he did. The common name sometimes given this plant is Dwala Aloe for its typical habitat - a dwala is a word used to describe a large unbroken dome of granite in Zimbabwe but it is also called Chabaud's Aloe.
We originally received this cultivar from Rancho Tissue Technologies and have grown it since 2017. We also grow a variety with tangerine colored flowers we call 'Dan's Tangerine' and an earlier blooming and slightly shorter variety with paler yellow orange flowers called 'Orange Burst' – all are very nice.
The information about Aloe chabaudii 'Dark Orange' 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. |
