Agave

Often mentioned as “the King of Agaves”, these elegant plants form short, round tight rosettes of green and white. The leaves are triangular or more precisely, deltoid in shape, wide at their base, tapering to a short, black terminal spine, but the leaf edges are smooth and white in color. It is these leaf margins that leave the distinctive white, linear crisscrossed bud imprints on leaf surfaces, looking as though a yeoman actually painted each leaf by hand for the king himself. These Agaves are related to the Queen Victoria Agave and many variations exist, but with the onset and technology of tissue cultured clones we can all expect the finest selections will prevail. Despite their noble appearances, these are tough, and durable plants. They perform very well in filtered light but they will tolerate full sun, with some acclimation to hottest western exposures. Provide them with well-drained soils, as with other Agaves.

These Agaves have it all! Narrow 3/4 – 1.5 in. wide, lance-shaped green leaves about 1 ft. long, are gently curved to form an artichoke-like rosette with propensity to form clumps of several offsets up to 3-4ft. across. The smooth, toothless margins shred or tear off to create a hairy appearance that stands out from any amount of back-lighting, and they have white strips that form decorative crossing bud imprints on the leaf surfaces. They do have a short but sharp terminal spine, which makes them a bit ferocious, despite their fuzzy animal-like look. They are tolerant of full or part sun, alkaline soils and of course drought conditions. They are native to sky island, pine-forested habitats of central Mexico, which provides a good amount of cold hardiness.

These Agaves have spread to tropical countries across the world as a popular fiber commodity. They occur naturally in southern Mexico where they live free from frost and get ample natural rainfall. These are large sized plants with distinctive narrow, straight lance-shaped leaves typically dark green to deep gray-green with short, sharp terminal spine and tiny serrated marginal teeth. These are free suckering plants with one larger mother plant with numerous pups of various sizes around her base. Bloom stalks are impressively tall at 15-20 ft. tall with widely spaced branched clustered blooms. They tolerate heat with no issues, they require good drainage and will be happiest with regular supplemental irrigation, especially during warmer months of the year. Give them space to grow and spread, but they pair well with any desert trees or other large-scale cacti or accent plants.

These are the quintessential Chihuahuan Agave, occurring in the high deserts of southwest Texas, southern NM and northern Mexico along mountainous slopes, rocky draws and adjacent oak to pine grasslands. They form beautiful blue-gray colored rosettes of wide, slightly guttered leaves that taper to a wicked sharp, gray to black terminal spine, with sharp recurved gray marginal teeth that leave sumptuous bud imprints. These are some of the coldest hardy agaves available in the landscape trade, although to weather cold wet winters, especially with snow, they must be grown with excellent drainage. These are mostly solitary plants, with little to no offsetting and they produce spectacular, widely branched bloom stalks that form tufts of dense flowers adored by pollinators. If you could only pick one Agave for your project, no matter where it is in the west or southwest, choose a Havard Agave. They are bold, beautiful, and tolerant of heat and cold.

They are strikingly attractive Agaves, prized for container gardens, but with good draining soil they are perfectly happy in the ground. They prefer morning sun to filtered light in low deserts and full sun in coastal gardens or higher elevation or inland areas. These are small, highly decorative plants with flat, pointed strap-like leaves that form a small ball close to the ground. The leaves are striped with dark green, chartreuse, and bright yellow, with the fourth color of their Quadricolor namesake being a reddish color that shows up in their small, sharp marginal teeth. Like others of this species, these plants are prone to suckering with many pups developing around the larger mother plant.

These are beautiful round, clustering Agaves with narrow, rigid powder-blue leaves that are well armed with sharp black teeth and a short formidable jet-black terminal spine. Their natural habitat is open scrub-land of mixed desert shrubs, thorny small trees, and plenty of ephemeral wildflowers. This is why these plants are so well suited for virtually any residential or commercial landscape. They are perfectly at home in well-drained soils, with periodic irrigation, blended with almost any other native or drought adaptive plants. Low maintenance, small and dramatic

These are squatty, wide green leafed, rounded Agaves with distinctive and prominent upward and downward curved sharp marginal teeth and a sharp 1 in. long terminal spine. They are solitary plants that grow in habitat from scrubby foothills up to higher mountainous mixed pine forests of the Sierra Madre Oriental, hence, their common name. Depending on their provenance, some Mountain Agaves can tolerate low temperatures in the single digits, but we conservatively recommend them for USDA zone 8 and warmer. As with other Chihuahuan Agaves, these plants will benefit from being planted in morning sun to filtered mid-day sun, with little to no late afternoon sun in low desert gardens. In upland or coastal locations they do well with full sun and minimal, but regular summer watering. Their adaptability, cold hardiness, attractive bud imprints and symmetrical shape make them a wise choice for many landscape designs

Murphy’s Agave is a handsome dark blue-green color with narrow, strap-like vertical straight to slightly curved leaves with numerous but small marginal teeth and a short terminal spine. These are clump forming plants with some capable of producing many offsets. They are tough, and adaptable to many garden situations blending in well with native or desert adapted shrubs, trees, ornamental grasses or virtually any other tropical or desert accent plants. Individual, immature plants have a symmetrically rounded natural shape.

Whale’s Tongue is a big, bold Agave with bright powder blue leaves. They form wide, deeply guttered leaves that often exhibit some wavy, linear undulations which are quite unique and dramatic. These are highly desirable, solitary landscape plants that are durable, tolerant of many exposures with good cold tolerance. They grow slowly, but designers should take note that the modest sized plants they find in nursery containers will eventually reach fairly massive proportions, so give them the space they need. Provide good drainage, and supplemental summer water.