Agave 'Blue Glow': Full of Surprises

I've grown a lot of 'Blue Glow' Agaves.  They're generally regarded as solitary plants, which means they don't usually produce pups or offsets.  To my recollection, I've previously had only one produce a pup after a lengthy confinement in a small pot.  Like most agaves, 'Blue Glow' is deemed to be monocarpic, which means it produces a single bloom stalk and subsequently dies.  I've had other agaves follow that routine but I'd never had a 'Blue Glow' bloom until 2023.  And even then, it defied its reputation by not dying.  I wasn't entirely surprised by this as a neighbor's plant also continued to live on after it'd bloomed as I described here in a 2022 post.  As mine didn't look too bad after that initial bloom stalk was removed, I left it in place and, in December 2024, it began to develop two more bloom stalks.  When those flopped over a few months ago, I harvested a handful of bulbils from the dying stalks and we cut them down.  By this time, summer was upon us and I didn't want to ask my husband for help in removing the plant so I left it in place until we had a brief stretch of cooler temperatures last weekend.  My husband did the lion's share of the work in removing it, getting stabbed from multiple directions in the process.

Photo of the agave in question in July.  Note the pups popping out from various angles.  I complicated the removal process by asking my husband to preserve those intact to the extent possible so I could try harvesting them.

My husband tackled the plant from below using an electrical saw, leaving the upper portion largely intact   

I initially couldn't get a grip on the individual pups to pull them apart from the larger clump and I almost gave up of the idea of harvesting them.  However, once I started twisting each pup's rosette in circles, one after another finally broke away.  I didn't retrieve all of them but I collected five good-sized rosettes that way.

The largest of the harvested rosettes is shown on the left and the smaller ones are shown on the right.  All had at least some attached roots.

I gave them a couple of days to dry out before I cleaned them up.

I cleaned them up around the base, removing dried and damaged leaves and giving the stems cleaner cuts.  This is what they looked like afterwards.  Many of the leaves were wavy, presumably because they grew cramped by the leaves of the mother plant.

I subsequently potted them up.

I lined up the pots in a mostly shady spot near my lath house for the time being

Closeups on the individual rosettes, shown clockwise from the largest to the smallest.  All are larger than most of the 'Blue Glow' Agaves I've seen at local garden centers in one-gallon pots for $30 to $35.

I'll give them time to establish healthy roots in the pots before deciding what to do with them.  Assuming they survive this transition, I may plant two or three elsewhere in my garden and give the others away.  I've already promised myself to give the plants a greater amount of space if I plant them out.  As their parent plant turned out to be a clumper rather than a solitary specimen, they may also require greater space as they mature.  I'm not yet sure what I'll do with the empty spots I have in the south-side succulent bed.  I'd originally planned to put the 'Sun Glow' Agave I put aside several months ago into the spot vacated by the 'Blue Glow' we've now removed but I'm not sure I want it so close to the mature plants I still have there.

The empty spot is backed by a Metrosideros 'Springfire', which is getting bigger every year, and surrounded by 2 other 'Blue Glows' with an Agave ovatifolia 'Vanzie' and an Agave 'Mediopicta Alba' nearby.  There's also another group of 3 'Blue Glows' just outside the frame of this photo on the right. 

I may use smaller succulents or even a small-flowered Pelargonium in the empty spot for a softer touch.  When the other agaves bloom and require removal, my husband would certainly appreciate room to maneuver when "we" tackle that chore.

Interestingly, although most online sources still declare that 'Blue Glow' Agaves are solitary plants, there are some that state otherwise.  The most comprehensive discussion I've found so far is one posted on Flora Grubb's site, which you can find here.  In short, Grubb contends that 'Blue Glow' Agaves remain solitary only until they bloom.

This is a wrap for my posts this week.  We're looking at a hot and sticky Florida-like weekend following a brief tropical storm's passage through here in the wee hours of Thursday morning.  Forecasts had called for a quarter of an inch of rain in my location but we got just 0.03/inch; however, the humidity level has soared.  High winds also took out over half the 'Benary's Giant Wine' Zinnias in my cutting garden, which was a surprise as those plants and flowers had looked indestructible but perhaps their sheer height was the issue.  Oh well, Mother Nature is nothing if not unpredictable. 

Have a good weekend.  My recommendation: limit your news consumption.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Mutant Agave 'Blue Glow'

In late November, I announced that I planned to limit my blog posts to twice a week through the holiday season but, with the exception of skipping one post, I seem to have slid into my regular routine.  This post will be brief but I wanted to share recent developments with my "mutant" Agave 'Blue Glow'.

Agaves are generally monocarpic, which means that the plant dies after flowering.  They take a relatively long time to bloom, which is presumably why many species in this genus are called century plants.  Of course, none of them actually take a hundred years to bloom.  Agave americana are notable for taking as long as thirty years to bloom, whereas Agave desmettiana and Agave vilmoriniana tend to be quicker about it.  Many agaves produce pups well before they bloom and bulbils, bulb-like baby plants, on their bloom stalks as they die.  Agave 'Blue Glow' isn't known to pup much, if at all, and, in my experience, it's stingy about producing bulbils as well.

I planted several 'Blue Glow' Agaves when I first developed my south-side succulent bed in 2014.  All were similar in age.  Since then, I've been apprehensive that they'd all bloom and die on approximately the same schedule.  In July 2022, my largest 'Blue Glow' started behaving oddly, producing pups out its sides, as opposed to at its base as most pupping agaves do.  In January 2023, it began producing a bloom stalk.

Photo taken January 22, 2023 as the stalk was well on its way

The stalk was fully developed and had produced a handful of bulbils when these photos were taken in August 2023

We removed the stalk a month later in September 2023 and I harvested the viable bulbils

As the mother plant showed no significant signs of decline, we cut back the bloom stalk and monitored its status.

While the plant looked homely when viewed from directly above the cut stalk, it appeared healthy

Last week, I noticed something new was happening.

The side pups had become larger and you can see a stalk, now in excess of a foot in height, on the right in this photo

There are actually 2 stalks as you can see from this angle.  Please ignore the grass weeds.  They're hard to remove without getting stabbed!

If my experience with the original bloom stalk is replicated, it could be several months before the two stalks mature and produce blooms, much less bulbils.  I plan to leave it alone for now to finish its business.  My neighbor had a similar experience with a 'Blue Glow' and, following its second bloom episode, the mother plant deteriorated and she removed it.  I expect my experience will be similar.  As it is, I notice the the mother plant's color has faded over time.

From a distance, surrounded by other 'Blue Glows' as well as other succulents, the plant doesn't look too bad, although its color is noticeably less blue now than the smaller 'Blue Glows'

Viewed from the west end of the bed looking east, everything looks normal, although you can already see the larger bloom stalk popping up behind a Euphorbia 'Sticks on Fire'

As the spiky plants are crammed together rather closely, I'm not looking forward to the removal process but that's most definitely on the agenda for 2025.  There's also a humongous Agave 'Blue Flame' in the mix that's swamping the plants around it that'll have to go at the same time.  None of my 'Blue Flames' has ever bloomed (and I have a lot of them) but they pup like crazy and those pups all too quickly approach the size of their parents.

All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

The late summer cleanup continues

I tackled a couple of other projects this week.  One is only partially completed but I'll share the progress to date; however, I'll start with the project completed yesterday morning with my husband's help.

The largest Agave 'Blue Glow' in my south-side garden produced a bloom stalk in early January.  By July, the stalk was bloomed out but I decided to leave it in place through August as there were signs of nascent bulbils developing near the top of the stalk.  This week I concluded it wasn't going to do much more than it had already so I enlisted my husband's help to take down the stalk without damaging the surrounding plants.

The set up to guide the stalk down is shown on the left and the after photo is shown on the right.  As the mother plant isn't showing any signs of decline yet, we left it in place for the time being.

We cut the stalk as low as we could without slicing into the agave's leaves.  The mother plant has at least 2 more pups growing from its sides so, like my neighbor's 'Blue Glow', I suspect my agave is going to produce at least one more bloom stalk before it gives up.

The stalk wasn't as tall (or as heavy) as that of the Agave vilmoriniana we took down last month but we still had to cut it into pieces to get it into our green bin.  The portion of the stalk bearing bulbils (aka plantlets) is shown on the right.

I didn't try to save the smallest bulbils but I probably potted up more than I needed to

 

The incomplete project involves cleaning up and cutting back plants in my north-side garden.  I consider this area of my garden relatively mature but of course there's always room for improvement.

This is a wide shot of the space in early July when the Agave vilmoriniana and it's tall bloom stalk were still in place.  We took both the stalk and the plant out in August.

This shot was taken this week following my initial efforts at cleaning the area up.  The changes are relatively subtle.

I cut back the 2 New Zealand tea trees (Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl') growing against the fence on the west side, as well as a few dead and heavy branches of the 'Fuyu' persimmon tree hanging over the fence (left photo).  I also cut all the Centranthus ruber stems to the ground and pulled out some western sword ferns and Erigeron karvinskianus that had spread in the corner area in response to this year's heavier rain (right photo).

The biggest change was opening up the area in front of the Agave ovatifolia to increase its prominence.  The empty space in front of that agave was created by pulling out the large faux birdbath planter I had right next to it.

I've cut back the Lavandula dentata (upper left) but I still need to thin out some dead interior growth.  The Callistemon viridiflorus behind the lavender is being enveloped by a combination of ivy, Dorycnium hirsutum (aka hairy Canary clover), and Erigeron karvinsianus and I've only made a dent at improving its visibility (upper right).  An Agave desmettiana 'Variegata' (lower right) is also being strangled by ivy, honeysuckle, and Erigeron.  And I think I need to remove or replant the pot and the Aeonium 'Kiwi' edging the gravel path (lower left), especially as both are obscuring 2 nice smaller agaves.

 

So where did the birdbath planter go?  The surface of the heavy terracotta pot I'd planted with succulents years ago is disintegrating, or at least the decorative exterior surface of the pot is.  I haven't tossed it out as it can still hold plants but I haven't decided where, if anywhere, I can put it.  On the other hand, the tall pedestal pot I'd used as a pillar to support that pot just needed a minor repair to a crack at the rim.

I moved the pedestal planter to an area on the west side of the garage across from the succulent bed I hope to revamp later in the fall.  I was originally thinking of putting it in succulent bed after its renovation but I think its current spot may be better.  As a temporary filler, I plopped in a pot of Rudbeckia 'August Sun' I couldn't stop myself from buying on my last trip to the garden center.

 

We've been warned to expect warmer temperatures today through Monday before they drift back down to the pleasant levels we enjoyed this week.  Maybe I'll manage to get on with my projects during the morning hours before retreating indoors in the afternoon.  Whatever your weather, I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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

Agave 'Blue Glow' reproduction

I've joked on and off about my fear that all the 'Blue Glow' Agaves in my south side garden will bloom at once.  Agaves are monocarpic, which means that they die once they bloom.  'Blue Glow', a hybrid of Agave attenuata and Agave ocahui, forms a solitary rosette and doesn't normally produce pups either at its base or by runners, except on occasion if it's grown in a pot where its development is constrained.  According to my records, I planted five of the seven plants I have in that area between September and November 2014.  I added one more in September 2015.  I've no record as to when I planted the seventh specimen but my guess is that it can't have been longer than a year later.  I purchased all my plants from small pots before they ballooned in popularity - and price.

All 7 of my 'Blue Glow' Agaves are shown in this photo, along with several 'Blue Flame' Agaves.  The latter are prolific puppers.  Most of the 'Blue Flame' plants are pups of the original plant I added to the bed in 2016.

 

Estimates of the life span of Agave 'Blue Glow' vary from seven to fifteen years.  If I assume my plants were at least a year old at time of purchase, they range from seven to nine years old at present so my fears about blooms in my near-term future aren't unreasonable.  I spotted a 'Blue Glow' in bloom in a neighbor's garden a couple of weeks ago and it was noticeably smaller than my largest plant.

My neighbor's 'Blue Glow' with developing bloom stalk in mid-June

Photos of the bloom stalk taken yesterday.  There are no flowers yet.

 

I took a close look at my 'Blue Glows' a couple days ago and my apprehension inched up a couple of notches.

There's no sign of a bloom stalk but something looked off with the large plant in the background, warranting a closer look

Can you see it?  Look closely at the right side of the plant in the rear.

This closeup photo shows two pups developing not from the plant's base but from its side!  I'm taking this as evidence that this Agave is preparing to bloom.

Closeup of the larger of the 2 pups

 

As mentioned, this Agave doesn't usually produce pups but it may do so when it blooms.  Blogger friend Hoover Boo at Piece of Eden has had experience with with these 'Blue Glow' off-shoots and I'm taking lessons from her description.  As there's no apparent way to remove the developing pups from the Agave's side at this stage, I'm going to leave them alone and hope I can remove and plant them after the mother plant blooms out.  I'm hoping that I'll also get bulbils (plantlets) from the flower stalk, which seems to be the most reliable way to propagate these Agaves.  Another site I checked mentioned coring the Agave to force its production of pups but, on the theory that my plant is nearing bloom stage, that seems counter-productive.

 

As a postscript, while taking updated photos of my neighbor's blooming agave, I also took a few photos of the house next door that recently installed a new landscape.

This was a view of the new area back in mid-June, as shown in a prior post

Updated photos featuring more plants and a nice blanket of mulch.  In addition to the Mexican feather grass (Nassella tenuissima) and Lantana planted during their first round, the landscapers added large noID Agaves in 4 areas, blue chalksticks (Senecio mandraliscae), purple heart (Tradescantia pallida 'Purpurea') and mother-in-law's tongue (noID Sansevieria).

 

It'll be interesting to see how this garden develops.

All material © 2012-2022 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Wednesday Vignette: A Magical Combination

Some of you may be getting tired of seeing photos of the succulents in the bed on the south side of my garden but a sunny morning following a rainy day left my 'Blue Glow' Agaves and the plants surrounding them, yes, glowing and a couldn't resist sharing my photos.

Last year, I planted 2 small pots of Aeonium atropurpurea 'Zwartkop' behind the 3 Agaves for the express purpose of picking up that red edge along their leaves

The spiky plant behind the Aeonium is Dasylirion longissimum.  The purple-leafed plant to its left is Vitex trifolia 'Purpurea' (aka Arabian lilac).

View looking in the opposite direction

For more Wednesday Vignettes visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.


All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Succulent Stars

I've been spending a lot of time in my garden, partly to escape the pandemonium associated with our remodel, but also in an effort to manage the garden's explosive growth following the best stretch of rain and moderate temperatures we've had in a long time.  I could probably spend several hours a day for a solid month just cutting back Erigeron karvinskianus and even then might have to start all over again with a fresh round of haircuts as soon as I finished.  I've also spent gobs of time deadheading flowering plants, pulling weeds, and cleaning out ripened bulb foliage.  In the midst of the last exercise, I took time to admire my sleek and always tidy succulents.

This is Aloe labworana, native to Uganda.  I picked it up last August because I loved its wavy shape.  Once I cut back the dead daffodil foliage surrounding it and uncovered the Echium debris that had nearly covered it, I noticed that it'd taken on a pretty red tinge.

This Yucca gloriosa 'Variegata' had been nearly smothered by Erigeron karvinskianus (aka Santa Barbara daisy) and was partially hidden behind a tall mass of Gaura lindheimeri.  I purchased the plant in a 4-inch pot about 18 months ago and it's still relatively small but someday it'll be big enough to hold its own in that spot against all comers.

This Agave is sold under a variety of names but now is commonly known as Agave mitis 'Multicolor'.  This is the largest of the 3 I have, given to me as a birthday gift 3 years ago.  It's beefed up dramatically in the past year, presumably in response to the extra rain we received this past winter. 

There are several nice 'Blue Glow' and 'Blue Flame' Agaves here but what dials this vignette up a notch is the mass of Crassula pubescens ssp radicans in full bloom among the Agaves.  The smaller succulent's red foliage nicely echoes the red edges of the 'Blue Glow' Agaves most of the year but the cream-colored flowers light up the bed in early summer.

The same grouping from another angle.  Please ignore the crabgrass I missed during my clean-up.

Some succulents have joined the floral parade.

My Hesperaloe parviflora aren't as exuberant as the plants I saw at last year's Garden Bloggers' Fling in Austin, Texas but I'm pleased with the statement they make here and I'm hopeful that, in time, my 3 plants will form large clumps.

I fell in love with Oscularia deltoides (aka Lampranthus deltoides) several years ago based on its foliage alone.  Its red stems are covered in icy blue-green leaves.  Like many succulents, it's easily grown here simply by sticking a cutting in soil.  This one is happy trailing down a low stacked stone wall in partial shade.  I have others growing in full sun but in my location they look best with some afternoon shade.

The bloom spikes on the 2 Agave desmettiana growing in my street-side bed formed in October.  The plants were in full bloom in March.  It appears that bulbils are finally forming, although thus far most are well above my head and therefore hard to photograph.  Meanwhile the mother plants' foliage has taken on a pretty reddish color.

The 3 Agave desmettiana 'Variegata' growing on the slope here are also progeny of the 2 plants currently in bloom.  I planted 5 pups in this area (not all visible in this photo) several years ago when I put the original plants in the street-side bed.  They also got a major boost from our winter rains.

Blooms are a mixed bag when the blooming plant is monocarpic, as most Agaves are.  But, if the Agave desmettiana produce a host of baby plants, that'll take the sting out of the loss of the 2 large specimens.  I only hope the bulbils develop fully before those 2 bloom stalks fall into the street.

All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Foliage: Lost among the flowers?

In early Spring even the most foliage-focused gardeners I know can be distracted by the colorful blooms that take the stage by storm.  For someone like me who's a bit flower-obsessed to begin with, it can be difficult to even see the foliage for the flowers.  I recently took time to survey the foliage in my garden in a effort to balance my outlook.  I won't share every one of my foliage stand-outs (I covered many of these back in late December), just those that grabbed my attention for one reason or another this month.

The first one is a new introduction to my garden.

This is Acer shirasawanum 'Aureum' (aka Golden Full Moon Maple), a dwarf Japanese maple I picked up at my local garden center in late February.  It reportedly has requirements similar to other Japanese maples; however, I belatedly discovered that my Sunset Western Garden Book doesn't recommend this species for my area.  So far, it's doing alright in a protected area with morning sun exposure.  I'm crossing my fingers that it'll survive our summer.

As usual, many of my top foliage picks are succulents.

I thought all the Crassula I planted here next to the Aeonium arboreum was C. pubescens radicans but only some of it's developed that variety's characteristic deep red color.  I like the mix of colors in any case.

I grow a lot of Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi'.  Last year, I added a variety called 'Kiwi Verde'.  I initially considered it 'Kiwi's' duller cousin but I've grown fond of it.  While it doesn't have the pronounced variegation 'Kiwi' is known for, the rosettes still develop attractive red edges and it's an even more robust grower.

Agave 'Blue Flame'  is making quite a statement in my south-side succulent bed this year

A couple of months ago, I added Aeonium 'Zwartkop' to embellish these 'Blue Glow' Agaves but  Lotus bethelotii 'Amazon Sunset' provides a nice accent too

Albuca spiralis 'Frizzle Sizzle' has emerged from its long underground nap

A variety of shrubs also caught my eye.

This is Artemisia californica, a California native as the name suggests.  It looked sad after summer's intense heat and I cut my 2 shrubs back hard.  They're looking great now.

Corokia x virgata 'Sunsplash' adds a subtle note of variegation to this bed in my front garden

Melianthus major has sprung back after I cut it nearly to the ground.  It provides a handsome contrast to Leucadendron 'Jester' and Phormium 'Amazing Red' here.

This is a plant I'd all but forgotten about until I cut back the ornamental grass that had threatened to envelop it.  It's Ochna serrulata, aka Mickey Mouse Bush.  I planted it in November 2014 and, even now, it's only a foot tall at best.  It's supposed to reach 8 feet in height at maturity but it certainly seems to be making a slow start.  It's an interesting plant, though, so I'll give it more time.

This is Pelargonium cucullatum 'Flore Plenum', possibly the most vigorous Pelargonium I've ever grown.  It produces pretty flowers but it's the foliage that originally attracted me.  Despite it's crinkly leaves, it's almost silky to the touch and it looks great when backlit.

I'll close with a succulent combination I'm particularly pleased with at the moment.

Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' and Hesperaloe parviflora make a happy combination

That's it for me this week.  Wherever you are, I hope you're treated to a warm, pleasant, sunny weekend.


All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party