ISI 2023-9. Aloe ‘Hodge Podge’ K. Zimmerman

Karen Zimmerman, in her ongoing quest for the ultimate toothy aloe hybrid, continues to select notable variants along the way. Aloe ‘Hodge Podge’ is one of the latest to come out of our tissue culture lab. It is named for its ‘confused mixture’ of different types of teeth, some simple peaks, others joined into ridges or multi-peaked ranges evoking a Patagonian skyline. These are translucent yellowish on a gray-green field, but in good light and cooler winter temperatures they blush alpenglow pink. This selection is derived from a cross of Aloe ‘Maga’ × A. ‘Marsha Layhew’. The former parent has not been distributed but is named in honor of Karen’s mother whose grandchildren affectionately referred to her by the nickname of Maga. Interestingly, Aloe ‘Maga’ adds to this melting pot of genes as it was a cross of A. ‘Wunderkind’, the Brian Kemble hybrid distributed as ISI 2004-16, and A. ‘Paul Hutchison’, one of a series of hybrids selected by Dick Wright that he named for various horticultural luminaries. These were hummingbird-assisted hybrids with a good dose of A. descoingsii. The latter contributed its diminutive, toothy rosettes. Dick selected hybrids that offset, rather than solitary plants, to aid in propagation and distribution. A. ‘Marsha Layhew’ was distributed as ISI 2014-14 and still stands out for its variable reddish teeth with white bases on a blue-gray field. But, here, we offer rooted plants of one of its progeny, A. ‘Hodge Podge’, HBG 142359. $15.