Know your Agaves
Agaves are one of the most versatile and beautiful plants for the California landscape, as well as other arid regions where xeric plants thrive (plants that thrive in dry conditions).
Agave varieties offer endless options in color, texture and size. They create striking focal specimens, beautiful mass plantings or are a sculptural addition to gardens. It’s important to place them wisely in the landscape as many grow quite large and have either serrated edges or spiked ends. They produce spectacular flower spikes, but as they’re monocarpic, they die or decline after flowering. (Look for a later post on Agave flowering.)
Here are my favorite Agaves for the California landscape….
Agave Americana/ Century Plant:
Large scale Agave with beautiful arching leaves and serrated/ spiky edges. A striking plant that should be carefully placed in the landscape due to size and sharpness.
(Image of Agave americana variegata variety, with variegated yellow leaf margins)
Zone: USDA 8-11
Size: 4’-0” - 8’-0” H x 6’'-0” - 10’-0” W
Exposure: Full sun (Some specimens are known to grow well in part shade. It’s always a good idea to ask a nursery for specimens already adjusted to shade in the nursery.)
(Image of an Agave americana variegata flowering in Laguna Beach, CA)
Soil & Water: Well drained soil, tolerates poor soil. Little/ infrequent irrigation needed.
Form: Rosette form with upright leaves that become slightly wavy with age.
Leaves & Color: Thick blue-green leaves, with sharp marginal (serrated) spine and sharp end tips.
Flower: This Agave is known to flower once it reaches 100 years old, thus the name Century Plant. It often will flower after 25 years, depending on environmental conditions.
It produces a single, thin bloom spike, 15’-0” - 25’-0” tall or higher, with individual branches of small yellow flower clusters, almost like a tree. It’s quite spectacular.
Landscape Placement: Due to the size and spike on this Agave variety, carefully choose an area for planting. These are best used as a focal specimen plant as a backdrop, set back from main areas, with some type of foreground planting. Locate in a large area with plenty of space to grow.
Do not plant in high traffic areas or areas with curious children.
Allow 6’-0” minimum clear space for the specimens to grow. Do not plant within 6’-0” of a walkway.
Can be used intentionally as “defensive/ security planting” in urban areas to prevent people from walking up to windows or a building.
Row of Agave americana in Laguna Beach, CA
Companion Planting: Plant with other low- water use plants. Succulents such as, Aeonium urbicum/ Saucer plant or smaller Agave parryi var. truncata / Artichoke Agave. Also looks fantastic with other cacti like Euphorbia ammak/ Candelabra Spurge or Pacycereus marginatus/ Fence Post cactus.
Agave attenuata/ Foxtail Agave:
Medium size Agave with arching green leaves and minimal spikes. This variety is commonly seen in Southern California, especially in commercial and other high traffic areas as it has minimal spikes.
(Image to the left of Agave attenuata cluster in a residential front yard in Dana Point, CA)
Zone: USDA 9-12
Size: Generally 3’-0” H x 3’-0” W but if grown in an open area can reach 5’-0” H to 7’-0” W
Exposure: Sun or shade (These grow well in shade, but it’s always a good idea to ask a nursery for specimens already adjusted to shade in the nursery.)
(Images of Agave attenuata forming trunks & pups around it’s base. )
Soil & Water: Well drained soil, tolerates poor soil.
Form: Rosette form, as they age a trunk develops, generally arching, can be up to 3’-0” high
.Leaves & Color: Smooth, spineless, yellow-green to silvery -green leaves. End tips of each leaf can be sharp.
It is also grown in a variegated variety with white-yellow margins, called ‘Ray of Light’ and a blue-green variety called ‘Nova.’
Flower: After 8-10 years, a columnar 5’-0” tall, slight arching, flower forms, covered with tiny yellow-white flowers. Agaves attenuata die after flowering from the main rosette and produce clusters of “pups” around it’s base.
Landscape Placement: A fantastic addition to any landscape. In small gardens, best planted in small clusters as a sculptural accent. Creates an excellent low-water use, mass planting in large commercial landscapes or streetscapes. When planted in pots, it becomes as great focal element when planted with smaller and trailing succulents.
Do not plant immediately adjacent to walkways- these grow large and can have sharp ends. Plant 4’-0” minimum from walkways.
Leaves are also fleshy and can break or be cut easily.
(Image of Agave attenuata cluster in a retail parking lot landscape area with full sun exposure, in San Juan Capistrano, CA.)
Companion Planting: Plant with other low- water use plants. Succulents such as, Aeonium urbicum/ Saucer plant, small grasses such as Festuca ‘Siskiyou blue’ / Blue fescue or Bouteloua ‘Blonde Ambition’/ Blue Gramma Grass or Coastal garden plants such as Limonium perezii/ Sea Lavender.
Agave bracteosa/ Spider Agave or Squid Agave
Small scale agave that is hardy in coastal or inland arid environments.
Zone: USDA 7-11
Size: 2’-0” - 3’-0” H x 2’-0” x 3’-0” W
Exposure: Full sun
Soil & Water: Well drained soil, tolerates poor soil.
Form: Rosette form with thin leaves arching down from the center.
Leaves & Color: Spineless green leaves with sharp end tips.
Flower: Typically 10 years, it produces a distinctive, arching flower spike with a tan base and column of white- yellow flowers. The spike reaches from 3’-0” to 5’-0” tall.
Landscape Placement: This is a great addition to any xeric garden, usually placed in the fore ground or mid ground in a planting scheme, due to it’s smaller size. Also, can be a great selection for an “entry” plant, under at a driveway entry, under signage or in pots in residential or commercial environments.
Do not plant immediately adjacent to walkways- these grow large and can have sharp ends. Plant 3’-0” minimum from walkways.
Companion Planting: Plant with other low- water use plants. Succulents such as, Aloe vera, Hesperaloe parviflora/ Red Yucca. Also look great with blue grasses like Helictotrichon sempervirens/ Blue Oat grass.
Agave ‘Blue Glow’ / Blue Glow Agave
Small scale agave with beautiful blue leaves and yellow-red margins.
(Agave ‘Blue Glow’ in front of a signage wall in Newport Beach, CA)
Zone: USDA 8-11
Size: 18” -24” H x 24” W
Exposure: Full to partial sun
Soil & Water: Well drained soil, tolerates poor soil
Form: Symmetrical rosette of hardy, upright leaves
Leaves & Color: Blue-green leaves with yellow-red margins (hence ‘Blue Glow’) with soft, spined edges and sharp end points
.Flower: After 10 - 15 years, it produces a 3’-0” - 5’-0” tall, slightly arching, single cylindrical light green flower. Often doesn’t flower or form offshoots/ pups.
Landscape Placement: It’s striking color combination makes it a perfect choice for a potted specimen, a small scale entry planting at a building/ residence entry, driveway, accent planting under signage or part of a xeric garden. It may not look spiky, but it still is sharp and should be set back from walkways and high traffic areas.
Do not plant immediately adjacent to walkways- these have sharp ends. Plant 3’-0” minimum from walkway edges.
(Row of Agave ‘Blue Glow’ in Laguna Beach, CA)
Companion Planting: Plant with other low- water use plants. Succulents such as, Aeonium urbicum/ Saucer plant or Aloe rudikoppe/ Little Red Riding Hood Aloe. Also makes a great foreground planting for larger xeric plants like Agave americana/ Century plant or Furcraea macdougalii/ MacDougall’s Century plant.
Agave ‘Blue Flame’ / Blue Flame Agave
Medium sized Agave with a graceful form, blue-green leaves and minimal spikes. An excellent choice for residential or commercial landscapes.
(Image of Agave ‘Blue Flame’ in a residential yard in Laguna Beach, CA)
Zone: USDA 8-11
Size: 3’-0” H x 3’-0” W
Exposure: Full to partial sun
Soil & Water: Well drained soil, tolerates poor soil
Form: Rosette with wide, graceful, slightly soft/ flexible leaves that curl slightly inwards.
Leaves & Color: Dusky, blue-green leaves with a slight marginal spine and sharp end points.
Flower: After 10 - 15 years, it produces a 3-0” - 5’-0” tall, slightly arching, single cylindrical light green flower. Often doesn’t flower or form offshoots/ pups.
Landscape Placement: Due to it’s lovely blue-green color, sculptural leaves and minimal spikes, this is an excellent choice for large, commercial areas. It creates a beautiful mass planting in large areas or streetscapes. It’s also a fantastic choice for residential landscapes as pairs well with so many other plants.
Do not plant immediately adjacent to walkways- these grow large and have sharp ends. Plant 3’-0” minimum from walkway edges.
Companion Planting: Plant with other low- water use plants. Succulents such as Aloe striata/ Coral Aloe. Also looks fantastic with other coastal plants such as Limonium perezii/ Sea Lavender, Anigozanthos flavidus/ Kangaroo Paw or even grasses such as Festuca mariei/ Atlas Fescue.
A General Note on Agave Propagation:
Use a hand trowel to separate the pups around the mother plant so that they each have a few inches of soil and any formed roots. Wearing gloves, gently pull away each pup and roots. Plant in a hole or pot twice the pup’s size with cacti mix soil and good drainage. Water when planted, several times a week after that until established. Generally, do not water during winter, they don’t need it.
Be sure to read Know Your Agaves, Part 2, for more Agave fun!
Don’t know your USDA Hardiness Zone? Check it here:
Sources:
San Marcos Growers- smgrowers.com
Agaveville- Agaveville.org