"A" is for Agave

Linda Brazill, author of the blog Each Little Garden, recently published a post entitled 'The alphabet garden' drawing from grower and garden designer Rob Dilbik's habit of talking about plants in terms of the alphabet.  The premise is that we create a multitude of words and material using just twenty-six letters and, similarly, we can create gardens and landscapes using a relatively small number of plants.  Linda took a look at her own garden in terms of the alphabet of plant genera she's collected, prompting some of her readers, myself included, to do quick run-downs of their own collections in those terms.  For the record, I found plants representing all the letters of the alphabet except "u" and "q" in my own garden.

I thought this was an interesting way to focus on some of the plants with the most prominent roles in my own garden.  I actually have a quite a number of plant genera starting with the letter "a", including Abelia, Aeonium, Agapanthus, Aloe, and Argyranthemum to name but a few; however, it's the Agaves that probably make the biggest impression.  Although many of my posts refer to Agaves, I don't think I've ever surveyed my collection and I decided it was a about time for me to do so.  So here we go.  Fair warning: I've got 30+ species/hybrids in this genera.

Agave americana mediopicta 'Alba':  Hoover Boo of Piece of Eden gave me 3 pups of this plant years ago.  This is the largest but there are 2 others in the same south-side bed, as well as 2 pups in my street-side garden.  It's a sneaky pupper - they often appear several feet from the parent plants.

Agave angustifolia 'Marginata':  This one sits in a corner of the south-side garden along our property line.  It mirrors a nearby Yucca gloriosa 'Variegata' in appearance.

Agave applanata:  I picked this one up at Solana Succulent in 2014.  At the time the nursery's owner, Jeff Moore, told me he wasn't positive of its identity but it might be A. applanata.  Now mature, it looks like the photos of that plant I've seen online.

Agave attenuata (aka foxtail agave):   A clump of A. attenuata was the only succulent in the garden we inherited when we purchased the house.  I've cut pups from that clump (shown on the left) many times since, spreading them throughout the garden.  I probably couldn't inventory them all if I tried.  The largest clumps are currently found on our back slope (middle photo) and in the street-side bed (right photo).

I also have 2 named cultivars of Agave attenuata, 'Raea's Gold' (shown on the left) and 'Ray of Light' (shown on the right).  Between the 2 of them, I've got 5 plants, not counting a couple of smaller pups.

Agave 'Blue Flame':  This is another prolific pupper that I've spread around the garden.  The clump on the left is one of 2 in the south-side garden.  The clump on the right is in the the street-side bed.  There's another in my back border and a small pup (struggling a bit) on the back slope.  They grow relatively fast and my larger clumps will need paring again this year.

Agave 'Blue Glow':  This cultivar was the first agave I purchased after we moved here 12 years ago.  This is generally a solitary specimen and I purchased most of mine as small plants in 6-inch pots within a 2-3 year period before they became really popular (and more expensive).  There are 7 plants in my south-side bed (left photo) and 3 in the street-side bed.  I bought a one-gallon plant more recently, which is in the back garden and I bought 2 other small plants by mail order last summer, which are in pots awaiting placement.  As my largest 'Blue Glow' has developed a bloom stalk and others of a similar age could soon follow, I wanted to have replacements on hand when some of them make their final exit.

Agave bracteosa (aka squid agave):  This plant may produce more pups than any other in my garden.  They usually appear some distance away from the parent and are often hidden from sight into they get larger.  The original plant, purchased in 2015, already had 2 pups.  I planted all 3 (shown above) in the back garden.  I've allowed some of their pups to remain in the same area and have planted others on the front slope near my lath house.  I recently added more to a bed outside our dining room window.  I've lost count of how many I have.  They can take a good amount of shade.

Agave capensis:  I got this one as a tiny plant from Huntington Garden's ISI (International Succulent Introductions) program in 2015.  It's a solitary variety.

Agave colorata:  I picked up the parent of this pup in 2016 at a local succulent show in 2016.  It and one other grew relatively quickly, getting too big for the bed alongside our back patio.  I gave one away and planted the other in the street-side bed.  When a soaker hose broke directly underneath it, I moved it again.  The parent plant isn't happy and will soon be relegated to our green bin but, even though the parent plants were removed from the back garden years ago, pups continued to appear there.  This one is in the street side bed (far away from any soaker hose).

Agave desmettiana: These are second-generation plants.  The 2 plants I originally installed along the street bloomed in 2018.  I planted pups, and also bulbils, in a variety of places.  Seven of the largest plants occupy a section of the front slope, along with a few bulbils I planted out later.

Agave gentryi 'Jaws':  I misjudged the size of this agave, as well as the Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' behind it and they're constantly battling for space.  This is another agave that pups regularly.  I've given many of them away but have one larger pup in another area of the front garden.

Agave gypsophila:  This sad specimen came by mail order in a 4-inch pot in 2016.  It got too big for its original spot and I moved it to the front slope in 2021.  It hasn't been happy since but I'm going to give it a dose of succulent fertilizer to see if that improves matters.

Agave impressa:  This is another agave that could use a boost of fertilizer.  It often develops red tones in summer but it's currently looking very yellow.

Agave 'Joe Hoak':  I got one of these agaves from Denise of A Growing Obsession.  I'm not sure where I got the second one.  It's an Agave desmettiana hybrid.

Agave lopantha 'Quadricolor':  This is yet another stealthy pupper.  They've even produced pups in one of my hanging planters.

These 2 are both considered hybrids of Agave macroacantha and Agave victoriae-reginae.  The one on the left is 'Blue Emperor' and the one on the right is 'Royal Spine'.

Agave 'Mateo':  I knew I'd acquired one of these agaves years ago but I had a hard time finding it, probably because it'd been swamped by a nearby Oscularia deltoides (see left photo).  The photo on the right shows it after I'd uncovered it.

Agave mitis 'Multicolor' (syn. Agave celsii 'Multicolor'):  I've 3 of these agaves, all sited in the same area of the front garden.  The smallest was a gift from Denise of A Growing Obsession.  One produced a bloom stalk in November but it's effectively been in a holding pattern since our temperatures dropped.

Agave 'Mr Ripple':  It's thought to be a hybrid of Agave salminiana and Agave protoamericana.  I picked up mine in a small pot at a Cactus and Succulent Society Show in 2016.  It's planted in my south-side garden but only visible to people who walk the dirt path behind the border.  It hasn't produced many pups but I planted one in the front garden.

Agave ovatifolia (aka whale's tongue agave):  The 'Frosty Blue' variety on the left is one of my earliest agave purchases.  It sits in my north-side garden.  Recently, I've only been able to find the 'Vanzie' cultivar.  The one on the right and 2 more recent purchases all came by mail order from Annie's Annuals & Perennials.

Agave parryi:  I picked this one up in a one-gallon pot for a very reasonable price at Island View Nursery in November.

Agave potatorum 'Kichiokan':  I picked this one up at my local botanic garden in 2016 when it still held fall plant sales.  I have a second one in a pot in my north-side garden.

Agave pygmaea 'Dragon Toes':  It's an attractive dwarf agave with noticeable imprints on the leaves.  It's produced at least one pup, which is currently almost as large as its parent.  Both are in my north-side garden.

Agave 'Rosa Gorda' and Agave funkiana 'Blue Haze':  These agaves are so interconnected in my north-side garden they can't be addressed separately.  'Rosa Gorda' isn't well-known and its origins are unclear as well.  (See San Marcos Growers discussion here.)  I've no record where I got it or if it was labeled when I acquired it.  I didn't understand that it would create closely clustered rosettes like this either, hence the fact that it's grown right into Agave funkiana.  The latter pups regularly but I've given most of those away thus far.

Agave striata:  How Sparaxis bulbs planted themselves between the leaves of this spiky agave, I don't know.  This one's in my front garden and there's another in a pot near my lath house.

Agave titanota 'White Ice':  This is another unhappy agave, possibly because I moved it from a large planter into the ground a few years ago.

Agave vilmoriniana (aka octopus agave):  This is the third of my agaves to produce a bloom stalk within months of one another.  I have several bulbils of the 'Stained Glass' cultivar, received from Denise of A Growing Obsession when her plant bloomed.  I gave away the vast majority of those she handed off to me but I've planted a couple in the ground and have others sitting in pots to bulk up.

Agave victoriae-reginae:  I have 2 of these in my north-side garden, both still relatively small in size.

I've noID for this agave, which I recently found crammed under a large Agave 'Blue Flame'.  It might be another form of Agave titanota from the looks of it.  I still haven't figured out a way to get it out of its predicament without damaging it or the 'Blue Flame'.

I may put together other posts based on an alphabetical review of my garden by genus.  There aren't as many plants in any other single genus as there are in the case of the Agaves, with the possible exception of Leucadendrons and Mangaves, but I might lump the alphabetical genera together - or skip around based on which plants are showing off at the moment.  I've no schedule in mind for doing this but don't be surprised if you find other posts like this in the future.

Best wishes for a pleasant weekend.  There's not much chance of rain in the ten-day forecast here but temperatures are supposed to slowly get a little warmer.  I'm looking forward to seeing spring unfold.  In the meantime, I'll share a couple of snowy pics of the mountains east of us, taken yesterday morning when the clouds finally moved out of the way.

Photo taken with a from my back garden looking east toward the San Gabriel Mountains

A closer view of the same vista

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party