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Aloe 'Yellow Torch' (Yellow Torch Aloe) - A shrubby succulent to 6 feet tall by 8 feet wide with upwardly inclined foot long gray-green leaves and torch-like clusters of yellow flowers that rise above the leaf rosettes in late fall through late winter.
Plant in full sun along the coast to light shade inland in a well-drained soil and irrigate infrequently to not at all in coastal gardens. Drought tolerant. A nice cultivar that is similar to Aloe arborescens 'Lutea' but with leaves that are straight and not recurved and does not get the leaf spotting occasionally seen on the Aloe arborescens cultivar. Should be as hardy as Aloe arborescens, which tolerates cold temperatures down to at least 22 ° F and recovers from short durations freezes below 20° F. We did not have any damage on this plant in the January 2007 freeze with three nightly temperatures dropped to 25° F.
Aloe 'Yellow Torch' is presumed to be an Aloe arborescens hybrid as it has similar foliage flowers to this species, but leaves are shorter and less recurved. We received this plant unnamed from a landscaper working on a Santa Barbara garden where this plant was growing and have sold it since 1997. Brian Kemble, Aloe expert and curator of plants at the Ruth Bancroft Garden commented to us that he believed that this was a yellow variant of Aloe arborescens and not a hybrid. It also looks very much like a plant photographed by Duke Benadom that is identified as Aloe mutabilis in "Aloes: The Definitive Guide" by Susan Carter, John Lavranos, Len Newton and Colin Walker (Kew Publishing, 2011). Aloe mutabilis is closely related and sometimes included with Aloe arborescens as A. arborescens ssp. mutabilis.
Information displayed on this page about Aloe 'Yellow Torch' is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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