The bees are buzzing with excitement over the impending flowering of five clones of Agave ovatifolia here at JLBG. We’ve never had a year with quite this many whale’s tongue agaves spiking at once, so it should be quite a show. Here’s our Agave ovatifolia ‘Frosty Blue’, which was the first to spike, but the other four aren’t far behind. Full opening probably won’t occur until our summer open house, but in the meantime, they are still something to marvel over.
After how many years will the Ovatifolia spike? I assume that is the death knell for the Agave?
Another question — which of the Ovatifolia clones do you find to be the most cold hardy? (I’m in Atlanta)
Thanks!
eric
Under our conditions, Agave ovatifolia flowers in 14-15 years. We haven’t seen any difference in winter hardiness of the non-variegated clones.