This toothy aloe makes hummingbirds smile

This is one part in a weekly series featuring the UC Davis Arboretum’s “Pollinator Plant List: Hummingbirds” series – 30 can’t-fail, easy-care, low-water plants well adapted to our region and that attract hummingbirds.

Gold tooth aloe

Aloe X spinosissima

Size: One foot tall, mounding to 2 to 3 feet with age.

Bloom season: Dark orange-red flowers in winter.

Exposure: Full sun or partial shade

Pruning needs: Remove spent flower stems in spring/summer.

Water needs: Medium to low; once established, water deeply once a week or every other week.

Snapshot: Put some teeth into your low-water landscape – and help the hummers, too. A showy and sculptural plant, this attractive aloe forms a perennial evergreen rosette of succulent leaves studded with creamy “teeth” (little pointy spines). In winter, the rosettes sprout dramatic spikes of dark orange-red flowers, a favorite for hungry hummingbirds looking for nectar.

For more on “Pollinator Plant List: Hummingbirds,” click on arboretum.ucdavis.edu.

This story was originally published November 3, 2017 at 2:00 PM with the headline "This toothy aloe makes hummingbirds smile."