Table of Contents

Why breed aloes?; Why new aloes for the garden?; The parents of the cultivars; Natural hybrids; Creating a hybrid or a cultivar; What is hybridisation?; Aloes in the garden; Further reading; Where to obtain aloe cultivars; A glossary and index to names.

About the Author

With over 40 books and hundreds of papers to his name, Gideon F Smith is South Africa's most prolific author on aloes and other succulent plants. He is Chief Director for biosystematics and collections at the South African National Biodiversity Institute, professor of plant science at the University of Pretoria, and a research associate at the University of Coimbra, Portugal and the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Through his interests in the biology and classification of succulent plants, as well as landscaping and horticulture, he is involved in various national and international environmental research associations. With a keen interest in all things succulent, Estrela Figueiredo has authored or co-authored books on aloes, succulent gardens, ferns and the Angolan flora. She is a research associate at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth and at the University of Coimbra in Portugal. Her interests are in African flora, plant classification, and sustainable gardening and landscaping.