Designing with SucculentsHow to incorporate succulents and cacti into your garden design
century plant are dramatic plants with prickly - edged leaves .
Agave works offer an ideal solvent for gardeners reconsidering their water - guzzling landscapes , while bestow the added benefit of drama and structure as well as grain and elusive color . century plant mature best in the Southwest and Mediterranean climates , but are adaptable and can also be grown out of their zones in pots if given wintertime protection .
GROWING AGAVE PLANTS
Why grow agave?
Zones:
Generally agaves thrive in the warm semitropical zones that experience seasonal dry periods ( Zones 8 to 10 ) . A few species aboriginal to the southwesterly United States and northern Mexico tolerate more extreme oestrus and cold;Agave parryiwill tolerate minus 20 stage F ( Zone 5 ) . The sound region for growing the most type is the Mediterranean clime area of California . However , many coinage will thrive in the desert Southwest . In cold or wet areas elsewhere , some metal money can be grown if kept dry and well above zero in the wintertime .
Exposure:
American aloe are sunlight worshippers , though unaccented shade for a couple of hours is acceptable .
Soil:
American aloe are very adaptable . Soils low in clay contentedness are fine . grain can be sandy or rocky . In areas with square rainfall , a well - drained grunge is necessary .
Planting:
plant life or transplant in spring and early fall , giving larger metal money plenty of way to attain maximum size . Make indisputable that no part of the leaf rosette is covered with soil , which can cause rotting .
Watering:
Until demonstrate , water once or twice a week . Eventually , agaves prefer to dry out between each tearing . Overwatering may further fungous root rot . In California , punishing wintertime rains can cause small , even intermediate - sized , agaves to rot .
Protection:
Protect pocket-size plants from summer suntan and indulgent - leaved species from sunburn and frost with shade cloth .
AGAVE PROS AND CONS
AGAVE PICTURES
Photo by : Barb Ries .
AGAVE VICTORIAE - REGINAE
The Queen Victoria agave is less than two feet across , perfect for a pot , with striking leaves edge in blanched . Very slow produce it can take 40 age to bloom . Purchase an Old plant to love its mature age . Hardy to 10 degrees F.
AGAVE GENTRYIXA . MONTANA
A hybrid betweenA. gentryi , which is compact with rounded folio and cherry ( very sharp ) pricker , andA. montana , which is variable but generally has longer , narrow parting . The two species overlap habitats in Mexico and can naturally hybridise . Shown here is the aesthetic leaf imprinting at the shoot apex ’s bud cone .
AGAVE PARRYIVAR.TRUNCATA
One of the nicest American aloe for the landscape . Its striking artichoke - like , blue - gray rosettes and clumping habit make it a prominent post in the garden . turn two to three feet tall and three to four feet across . If kept teetotal , it will tolerate 15 level F.
AGAVE LEOPOLDII
A nanus agave best used in a container . If planted in the terra firma , it will form a clumping mound over three feet across . take down for its wispy curled fibers that decorate the folio tolerance . Hardy in Zones 9 to 10 .
AGAVE AMERICANA‘VARIEGATA ’
Since the nineteenth century , a popular garden plant life in Southern California , with creamy golden stripe down the length of the leafage . Its duncish guttered six- to eight - foot - long leaves make it a whopper of a specimen up to 12 feet across . size of it can be greatly lose weight if it ’s preserve in a container . As with many other variegate agave , it needs protection from sunlight during the raging part of the day , especially in desert areas . Hardy to Zone 8 .
AGAVE FALCATA
Some may favor this as a container plant . Its curt , slopped yucca - like leaves have sharp concluding spines that can allow for some unpleasant surprise for the unwary gardener . The narrow foliage provide a cracking texture , contrasting with bolder foliaged plant , including other agave . Grows to 18 inches wide . Hardy to 15 degrees F.
AGAVE MONTANA
A solitary agave ( it does not form setoff ) recently discovered in Mexico , three to five feet tall and four to six foot wide of the mark . The chestnut browned marginal prickles counterpoint against rich green leave-taking make it pleasing to view , especially in a location where there is backlighting . Hardy to 10 grade F.
AGAVE‘CORNELIUS ’
Possibly an deviant form of the variegatedA. americana . Also betray under the invalid and rather unmanageable name ofA. americana‘Marginata Aurea Monstrosa ’ . imbed in the ground , it will acquire to two feet across and 18 inches tall , but will be somewhat small-scale in a container . Very slow growth , so try out to purchase a larger , elderly specimen . Hardy to 25 degrees F.
DESIGNING WITH AGAVES
AGAVE FAQS
Is agave a cactus?
Agave is a case of succulent , commonly confused with cactus . Remember the linguistic rule that all cacti are succulent , but not all succulents are cacti . The main divergence between agaves and cacti is the bearing of foliage , cacti do not have them , while agaves do .
Do agaves flower?
Used primarily for their startling leaf artistry , agaves also eventually flower , though blooming signalize the end of the industrial plant ’s liveliness Hz , when they depart in a blaze of halo with a tall spindle or tremendous , treelike branched chaff . After the towering spires stand up with tubular blossoms are finished , the female parent industrial plant dies off . But look on the coinage , unexampled pups start out to form either before or after anthesis , which can be removed and put into containers of their own .
How are agaves propagated?
pup can be draw out free from the parent plant to make more of a adept thing . In addition to the progeny that sprout from the roots , some century plant make plantlets on their flower stalk . Both puppy and plantlets can be move out and planted in their own deal .
AGAVES INDOORS
If you survive in an area with free burning cold , bring your American aloe indoors for the winter , or leave them inside year - round . Here are some baksheesh :
exposure take at the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek , California .
This clause was adapted from its original version for purpose on the entanglement .
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