I'm succulent expert and author Debra Lee Baldwin. This video presents the
Agave section of my best-selling book Designing with Succulents. You'll get a
good basic understanding of agaves, learn how to select and grow them successfully,
and you'll see 30 beautiful varieties in gardens and landscapes.
Agaves lend a sculptural element to landscapes and make good fire break
plants and security fences. They're native to the Americas. Large agaves store
enough moisture to get by on rainfall alone and thrive in nutrient poor soils
scalloped patterns on an agave's leaves are known as bud imprints and they're
caused by spines and teeth pressing into the flesh of inner leaves before they
unfurl. Sharp points at leaf tips and along the leaf margins of some agaves
can make the plants treacherous. If this is a concern snip a quarter inch off the
tips to blunt them. Most agaves want sun the more the better in all but desert
areas. Like most succulents they do best in coarse soil that drains well. When
fully mature, agaves flower. All but a few types of agave bloom once and then die
this may take as many as 25 years depending on the variety but it will
happen and when it does it can be quite a show. Flowers along the stalk turn into
mini-plants called bulbils, or seed capsules depending on the variety. Only
the mother plant dies. In many cases notably with agaves in the americana
species, a litter of pups carry on. When you see an agave surrounded by
miniatures of itself those are its pups you may be happy to get free plants but
keep in mind the larger the agave species the more likely its pups may be
a problem. Pups can be invasive and difficult to remove, so I've included
varieties that don't pup. These may initially cost a bit more but they're
well worth it over the long run. Agaves are hardy for the most part to the mid
to high 20s but a few go a lot lower. If an agave is notably frost hardy or frost
tender, I'll mention it. I'm gonna introduce you to some of my favorite
landscape agaves. Most of these are best in the ground, but when small any
agave, or any succulent for that matter, can be in a pot. Agave americana at 10 to
15 feet tall and about as wide is commonly called century plant because it
seems to take a century to bloom although it actually flowers at about
15 to 25 years of age, quicker if you pamper it. So be mean to your Agave
americana. Even small century plants thrive with no care at all. Like cactus
they don't mind frost, blazing sun or poor soil. Plant them on rocky slopes
where nothing else will grow and in any large area that receives little or no
irrigation. That's what they're good for. Don't plant them next to your driveway
or next to a sidewalk. Variegated forms of Agave americana are beautiful. They
include marginata which is about eight feet tall and as wide and white striped
agave americana 'Mediopicta Alba' the tuxedo agave which only gets to 3 to 4
feet tall. Agave angustafolia 'Marginata' grows to about 4 feet tall and
about as wide. It has long green and cream striped tapered leaves that give
the plant a starburst shape. It's cold hardy to around 20 degrees Fahrenheit
and is colony-forming meaning it pups. But the colonies are pretty. Multiple
starbursts. Agave attenuata, 5 feet tall and about as wide, is common in
gardens along the California coast and in Florida and Hawaii. Elsewhere it needs
protection from frost and sunburn. It's unusual among agaves in that it is
trunk forming. Offsets that grow along the trunk eventually form a dense cluster.
Smooth leaves have no vicious barbs and lack terminal spines, and the flower
spike is tall, arching and unbranched, giving it the common name foxtail agave.
There are blue varieties but they're uncommon. And there are also a half dozen
or so that are striped or streaked with yellow or cream
these seldom offset and they may sunburn if you don't protect them. Shown
here in my YouTube video tour of my own garden
Agave 'Blue Flame's flexible blue-green leaves have finely serrated edges that
suggest the flames of a gas burner. 'Blue Flame' is medium-sized, growing to
several feet in diameter. It's a cross between Agave shawii I and Agave
attenuata, both of which i've included in this video
like Agave attenuata new rosettes form along the stem, which like that of
its shawii parent lies along the ground. One of the most popular landscape
succulents is Agave 'Blue Glow' which i think should have been named 'Red Glow'
because its leaves, which have painterly striations of green, blue and gray, are
margined in red. It's an excellent small agave - about 3 feet in diameter with a
crisp silhouette of slender tapered leaves. For those of you who don't like
weeding out pups Agave 'Blue Glow' does not produce them. Hardy to 20 degrees
Agave bovicornuta, 2 to 3 feet tall and 5 feet wide, has broad bright green leaves
with prominent spines and bud imprints. It does not pup. Agave bracteosa grows
to about 3 feet in diameter. Long narrow tapered leaves curl downward and lack
spines. Center leaves that cling to each other have flat tips that give the plant a
distinctive star-shaped center. Although it looks delicate, this is one of the
more cold hardy agaves to 10 degrees Fahrenheit. In my garden it does not like
full sun. Dappled shade only. Agave 'Chishum' grows to about 3 feet in
diameter. It's a cross of Agave gypsophila which I've included in this
video and thick-leaved, strongly toothed Agave colorata. It's not widely
available, but given how gorgeous it is I suspect that will soon change
Agave 'Cornelius' distinctive color and form make it unforgettable. This is
Jeannie Meadow in her fabulous garden in Fallbrook California. It's a nice
small to medium sized agave that has beautiful color. It never
changes. It can take the cold, it can take the heat. This is west-facing. It
will give you pups that are very easy to pull off and share with other people
It's just one of my favorites. I love the wavy edges on it. Hardy to 15
degrees Agave desmetiana 'Variegata' grows to 2
feet tall and 3 feet wide. It has upright, gracefully curved leaves margined in
yellow. It blooms and therefore dies early compared to other agaves at around
5 years. Well hello Joe! 'Joe Hoak' at Waterwise
Botanicals. Look at the late afternoon sun illuminating those variegated leaves
Several species of agave have white curly filaments along the leaf margins
Filamented agaves are eye catching when backlit. When you're on the shady
side of a filamented agave with the sun behind it, the plant lights up. Agave filamentosa
subspecies schidigera grows to about a foot high and one to two feet
wide and is hardy to 15 to 20 degrees. Agave geminaflora gets 2 to 3 feet in
diameter. One of Jeanne Meadows' has come into bloom. It's gonna take about a year
for it to die all the way. From the bottom up it will start to turn
burgundy as well and it's just gonna be a gorgeous show of colors as it is dying
so it's it's gonna give us something special even when it's going away.
Agave guiengola has broad triangular silvery leaves. It gets nearly as large
as a century plant over time but is a much better choice because it doesn't
pup. Leaf margins are minimally serrated so it's less treacherous too. Use Agave
guiengola as a garden focal point and if you have a large landscape repeat it
for dramatic effect. Agave gypsophila has leaves that curl and
twist with rickrack margins. Its ornamental doesn't get overly large -
about three feet in diameter - and is beautiful combined with other succulents
in garden beds. Agave lophantha 'Quadricolor' color is
visually dynamic. It's the variegate of a tough and hardy desert agave. It stays
small, mature rosettes are only about 12 inches in diameter. When you have the
right place for it all those multiples are beautiful. Hardy
to 15 degrees. Closely related to Agave victoriae- reginae is Agave nickelsiae
That's a name change, you probably know it by Agave ferdinandi-regis
has gray-green leaves with white lines that appear drawn with chalk and
squiggly black tips. Hardy to 15 degrees and grows to 2 feet in diameter
Agave parryi, Parry's agave, native to the desert Southwest and Mexico is highly
heat tolerant yet also among the most cold hardy of agaves, to minus 20 degrees
Fahrenheit Agave parryi and it's subspecies range
from 18 inches to 2 feet or more Agave parryi 'Truncata' has broad oval
leaves, grows to 4 feet in diameter, and is much less cold tolerant unfortunately
than the species. It only goes down to maybe 15 degrees Fahrenheit. It's so
beautiful grown in multiples, and since it tends to offset that's likely to
happen. Agave ovatafolia somewhat resembles
Agave parryii 'Truncata' but Agave ovata folia is larger, six feet in diameter
light blue and generally more showy and it doesn't pup. Hardy to five degrees
Agave 'Sharkskin' is one of my favorites because it's so tactile. It's a medium
sized, two to three feet in diameter agave, tough in the garden and a
conversation piece. Leaves have the texture of fine sandpaper and are
noticeably thick and strong. To 15 degrees. When backlit the toothed edges
of Agave shawii glow pink, orange yellow and red. It's native to Baja
California and will grow in desert gardens if given afternoon shade. It
handles drought and poor soil, grows slowly to 3 feet across, and is
colony-forming. It produces offsets from stems that lie along the ground. Agave
tequilana also known as tequila agave or Weber's blue agave is farmed by the tens
of thousands in Mexico. It makes a handsome landscape plant with slender
pointed blue-gray leaves that are striking in silhouette. It grows to five
feet tall and 6 feet wide. Give it room. It pups.
Agave victoriae-reginae the Queen Victoria agave is cold hardy to ten
degrees Fahrenheit and seldom produces offsets. It has tight artichoke-like
symmetry and leaves detailed with white lines.
It grows to 18 inches in diameter over time. After 20 or so years it produces a
tall skinny bloom spike. Not much to look at.
It's kind of a bittersweet event when it happens because you get to see something
cool and rare and unusual but you know you're going to lose a truly magnificent plant
Agave vilmoriniana, five feet tall and hardy to the low 20s, has narrow guttered
leaves that undulate as though swept by an ocean current, hence the common name
octopus agave. Because leaf edges lack teeth it's considered a soft agave. The
species is solitary but plantlets do form abundantly along the bloom spike.
Look for the yellow striped variety, Agave vilmoriniana 'Stained Glass'.
With it's minimally serrated margins and graceful tapered leaves, Agave weberi is
an elegant agave. It's better behaved than the americanas that it resembles,
being less inclined to offset, but it is slightly more sensitive to weather
extremes. It needs afternoon shade in the heat of
summer. Grows six feet tall and up to ten feet wide.
When pruning an agave if you cut it to a V an upside-down V that resembles its
natural tip, you don't even notice that it's been trimmed. Or it cut it all the
way back to the trunk. A straight across cut at a leaf's midsection ruins the
plant's symmetry. Avoid getting sap on your skin as it may cause an allergic
reaction. You have to watch your agaves and you have to treat them for snout weevil.
Because this is what happens. The snout weevil is a little beetle...Oh!
That's disgusting! Agave snout-nose weevil is an increasingly common pest
that destroys agaves and related species such as mangaves, beaucarneas and yuccas.
Fortunately it can be prevented, and if caught early, treated. Learn more on my
website's agave snout weevil page. Find labelled photos of this video's agaves in
my book Designing with Succulents and on the Agave page of my website
DebraLeeBaldwin.com. Be sure to watch my YouTube channel's Agave
playlist. Click subscribe and like (if you do) and please know I always welcome
your comments and questions.