John B's amazing urban aloe garden

When plant people think of Richmond, California, they immediately think of Annie's Annuals. I do as well, but I also have a plant friend who has created an amazing aloe garden on a residential street. The planting areas in front of and next to John's house aren't huge, but they're packed with wonderful specimens you're not going to see just anywhere.

Every time I visit, there's something new to see. This is what the garden looked like the last time I stopped by:

Aloes in front of John B's house

Take a look at these two Google Streets images. The difference between 2018 and 2021 is astounding:

John took advantage of the extra time spent at home during the pandemic and revamped the street-side plantings, adding not only more plants but also more rocks. I don't think there's another garden like his anywhere in town. The vibrant turquoise of the house is a great backdrop for the plants.

John was very patient and provided IDs for the plants in these photos. Without his help, I would have had to hazard more than one guess.

Bottom: Aloe vaombe, Aloidendron ramosissimum. Middle: Aloe lukeana, Aloe chabaudii, Aloe cipolinicola. Top: Aloe africana, Aloe rubroviolacea, Agave oteroi

Aloe vaombe (top center), Aloe cipolinicola (bottom right). To me, this vignette is pretty darn close to perfection.

Aloes from left to right: Aloe vaombe, Aloe cipolinicola, Aloe peglerae, Aloe chabaudii, Aloe lukeana, Aloe rubroviolacea, Aloe africana. Behind is Salvia confertiflora. Groundcovers: Senecio serpens, various sempervivums, sedums and graptosedums.

Aloe marlothii, Aloidendron ramosissimum (small), Aloe vaombe, Aloe cipolinicola, Aloe peglerae, Aloe chabaudii, Aloe lukeana

Aloe distans

Aloe vaombe, Aloe cipolinicola, Aloe peglerae, Aloe chabaudii, Aloe lukeana, Aloe rubroviolacea, Aloe africana

Aloe lukeana

Bottom: Aloe chabaudii, Aloe rubroviolacea, Agave oteroi. Top: Aloe lukeana, Aloe africana, Aloe marlothii, Agave ‘Blue Glow’, Aloe pseudorubroviolacea

Agave oteroi (left), Agave ‘Blue Glow’ (center right). Aloes clockwise l to r: Aloe rubroviolacea, Aloe lukeana Aloe africana, Aloe marlothii, Aloe pseudorubroviolacea.

Aloe cipolinicola, Aloe peglerae, Aloe chabaudii, Aloe lukeana, Aloe rubroviolacea, Aloe africana, Aloe marlothii; Agave oteroi (bottom off center), Agave ‘Blue Glow’ (right)

Agave ‘Blue Ember’ surrounded by Sedum rubrotinctum and ×Graptosedum ‘Alpenglow’

Aloe africana, Aloe marlothii, Aloe pseudorubroviolacea, Agave ‘Blue Glow’, Aeonium ‘Sunburst’, Aeonium ‘Kiwi’

Aloe ankoberensis

Aloe ankoberensis, Dudleya virens ssp. hassei, Dudleya pulverulenta, Aloe broomii

Aloe betsileensis in the front

Aloe peglerae and Dudleya farinosa (Noyo River form)

John next to a small planting bed carved out of the concrete. Living proof that hell strips don't have to look like hell!

Same bed, looking in the other direction

On the mound in the center: Aloe labworana (on top of the mound); Notocactus magnificus, Notocactus uebelmannianus, Notocactus schlosseri; Dudleya farinosa (two different forms, including ‘Noyo River’), Dudleya cymosa (ssp. cymosa and ssp. paniculata), Dudleya lanceolata

Dudleya farinosa (North Coast form)

Haworthia fasciata

Ferocactus macrodiscus

×Mangave ‘Sponge Paint’

Aloe parvula or pseudoparvula

Aloe humilis × ferox (Nick Deinhart hybrid)

Around the corner on the east side of the house:

Aloe comosa, Dudleya brittonii (La Misión form), Echinopsis oxygona, Pilosocereus azureus, a complex Nick Deinhart aloe hybrid

Aloe mitsioana, Aloe aculeata, Agave titanota ‘White Ice’, Echeveria ‘Afterglow’

, 

Aloe mitsioana, Aloe aculeata

Aloe aculeata

Dudleya sp., Aeonium ‘Zwartkop’, Agave titanota ‘White Ice’, Echeveria ‘Afterglow’

Crassula ‘Buddha’s Temple’, Dudleya sp.

Aloe vanbalenii in the hell strip along the east side of the house

Aloe pulcherrima and Aloe glauca sitting pretty on top of a particularly tall mound of rocks

NOID Echinopsis hybrid adding beauty where there would otherwise be very little of it

Great specimen of fan aloe (Kumara plicatilis)

NOID Echinopsis hybrid, Kumara plicatilis, Agave parrasana

What John has created here is not only a showcase for his aloes and other succulents, but also a gift to the neighborhood—a small slice of nature, surprisingly poignant because it's so unexpected.

The backyard is home to more aloes, dudleyas, and other succulents. Here are just a few I had time to photograph:

Dudleya greenei in a planter assembled of small rocks

Dudleya farinosa, Dudleya traskiae, Dudleya attenuata, Agave albopilosa, Kalanchoe sp.

Aloe erinacea

Aloe polyphylla pushing six inflorescences!

Aloe polyphylla, impressively large and impressively pristine, and Aloe mawii

Aloe suprafoliata and Aloe peglerae, Agave utahensis var. eborispina

Yep, "regular" flowers, too!

I love plants. They're wonderful, but plant friends are even better. And John is a great one.

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