In the spring, I visited a nursery on the outskirts of Polis. It looked somewhat run-down, hence my not having poked my nose in sooner after moving here. In an old polytunnel there were some neglected aloes, still flimsily attached to the tiny plastic pots they had been put in years ago. I like perusing such forgotten corners of nurseries because you can find some unusual plants there and/or plants that have developed 'character' one way or another; in any case, they will have proven themselves survivors (the ones that aren't dead, that is!) So I was very pleased to find an aloe with character, and even more pleased when it cost me only 10 Euros
Here's a sequence of photos showing me planting it through gravel-on-polythene mulch.
The idea of the stones is to act as a mini raised bed (aware that succulents won't like to sit in water over winter), to keep the foliage off the (damper microclimate) gravel, and to frame the plant and make the whole thing more of a feature. Granted, in time the plant will overrun the framing stones, but I could trim it back and/or add more stones as needed.
In the last photo, you see another Aloe, which I bought at the same time for 5 Euros. I think it may be the same as JohnF's first photo in this topic - A. maculata. If anyone can confirm that, and name the bigger one, that would be nice.
I'll try to add a photo next spring showing its growth and hopefully good flowering.