Agave

These are big, bold, green Agaves. They are common in central Mexico in scrub desert grassland habitats, mixed with oak and junipers. Mostly solitary plants, they can form widely spaced colonies giving the appearance someone had designed them into the landscape. Long leaves are dark to bright green color as mentioned, which makes them stand out from so many other large blue leaves Agaves. The leaves are guttered, with large marginal teeth and a short, sharp terminal spine. Due to their wide distribution and centuries of human cultivation in Mexico, many named selections exist of these big beauties. Plant them with other large desert shrubs, grassy accent plants, or use a few for solitary specimens with dramatic up-lighting. A. salmiana v. ferox is known for more pronounced mammilate marginal teeth, but with all other similar traits.

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.

This Agave that hales from Oaxaca, Mexico is easily identified by its light blue-green leaf color and wide, white to brownish marginal teeth that often resemble the mouth of an angry shark. These teeth produce picturesque bud imprints on the leaf surfaces. They are smallish plants and solitary, making them good candidates for container culture or used as unassuming focal point specimens. Good drainage is a must and protection from hard frosts during winter is advisable. Many named selections exist in the Agave collector trade, including ‘White Ice’, which has a more powdery blue color with black terminal spines and strong tooth imprints on the back leaf surface. ‘Black & Blue’ is a smaller, dramatic version with blue-green tightly formed rosettes, and leaf margins with wide, sharp stunningly curved black teeth. And Agave titanota ‘fo76’, (syn. Agave sp. ‘Sierra Mixteca FO-076’) which is a specimen plant reportedly collected from Rancho Rio Tambor, that has green, short squatty leaves with ghostly white large marginal teeth.

These Chihuahuan desert native agaves form distinctive, tight ball-shaped rosettes with short, thick, and rigid triangular toothless leaves of dark green with white bud imprint on upper and lower leaf surfaces. They look like an artichoke. Each leaf does have a short, sharp terminal spine, but they are mostly smooth as Agaves goes. They are slow growing but dependable in well-drained soils for full sun to part sun locations. They work well in containers, planted in masses, or simply mixed with other desert accents or perennials.

Named for the French horticulturist and plant collector Maurice de Vilmorin, it’s easy to see how this agave got its common name: “Octopus.” It will take on the look of the wild and wavy sea creature in the right growing situations. A striking textural accent plant with a shorter lifespan than most agaves – about 10 years before flowering and dying. If you have the space, a solitary specimen or 3 planted en masse will look quite dramatic. Light green to gray green, strap-like, elongated leaves that are recurved and slightly twisted upward. Leaf margins are smooth, sometimes tapering to a relatively soft terminal spine. Just give the vilmoriniana plenty of space to stretch out, about 8-12 feet between specimens. Also give it some shade, as the octopus agave can show heat stress in full sun in Phoenix in the form of terminal leaf necrosis.

In their natural desert scrub habitat, these Agaves appear like terrestrial cephalopods, hence the common name Octopus Agave. They have wild, strongly recurved, unarmed olive green leaves that arch out from a central crown to form an open sculptural rosette. The leaf texture can be slightly scabrous. These are mostly solitary plants but they can produce colonies from bulbils that fall from bloom stalks and root in. When mature, their unbranched bloom stalks can produce either yellow flowers or bulbils, which is how they are mostly propagated. These are low maintenance and highly adaptable Agaves that can be used in any frost-free landscape. Plant one specimen for a statement or plant them in mass.

This Agave is described as medium large, green to grayish, forming open arching rosettes with wide pliable, straight to recurving guttered leaves with smooth leaf edges, ending in a 1.5-2 in. terminal spine. This is all true information but these Agaves have way more majesty than this precise physical description indicates. Often, when plant aficionados come across an Agave weberi they are usually in awe from the sight of them. These are soft-leafed, gray-green plants with a pleasing urn shape. They are sculptural without looking deadly or overbearing despite their mature size. They make excellent container plants, landscape specimen plants or even blend into sophisticated tropical designs. Like other agaves, they demand well-drained soil, and they are free suckering, creating many pups around the base of the mother plant.

This Agave has soft, unarmed blue green leaves with a flame-like appearance from which its common name was derived. It is a luscious looking clump forming or groundcover type hybrid Agave. Individual plants grow at a moderate rate to 2-3 ft. high & wide, but as they age, they will continue to multiply to form groups that can spread 4-8 ft. in width. They are great for use at poolside, water features and patios where you want to maintain a soft, invitingly cool, tropical appeal. Minimal maintenance, but they prefer regular supplemental water through the first summer or two. As with other Agaves, well-drained soil is a must.

This is a hybrid agave, between two other favorites, Agave attenuata and A. ocahui. Like all hybrids, the offspring display only the best qualities provided by both parents. This is a small, well-behaved Agave with flat to slightly cupped leaves that are silvery-blue green color and have a short reddish terminal spine. They form a nearly symmetrical round shape similar to A. ocahui. The leaf margins possess no teeth, they are thin, golden red in color with a spectacular translucence that allows the plant to literally glow when it is back-lit in the late afternoon or morning sun. Plant these beauties in masses, to accent hardscape elements, as individual specimens or in modern minimalistic containers, but site them where the sun will allow them to glow.