It’s that time we look forward to each year…the on-line launch of the new Plant Delights catalog. 2025 makes our 39th year of a journey we could never have imagined would have lasted this long when we began. The 100+ new plants in this years catalog, include over 40 that are first time introductions anywhere
The Launch Window – A few Appetizers Read More »
In 2015, we were potting seedlings from our cross of two hardy century plants, Agave lophantha and Agave x pseudoferox (salmiana var. ferox of Hort.), when we found one with a tiny yellow streak on one leaf. Over the years, it grew larger until it was large enough to core, which we do to promote
Sunshine Superman Read More »
One of the joys of growing plants from seed is to study the amazing variability within seedlings. Below is one of our outstanding Agave ovatifolia seedling selections from 2014. This form is very compact and dense, with wonderfully pleated foliage. Since this species never offsets, it will flower and die, unless we destroy the central
Jabba the Century Plant Read More »
New century plant hybrids don’t usually just happen. Yes, a bee can occasionally transfer pollen, resulting in a new hybrid, but as a rule, new hybrids require an incredible amount of work, spearheaded here by our volunteer, Vince Schneider. Vince coordinates pollen collection, storage, as well as the pollination process. While we love agaves with
Sky Painting with Pollen Read More »
Can you imagine living your entire life, looking forward to only one sexual encounter, which will only happen just before death? Such is the life of an agave (century plant). In botanical terms, this is known as being monocarpic. Growing monocarpic plants is the ultimate mixed emotional undertaking. It’s exciting to see them finally flower
The botanical world has long been a tug of war between the taxonomic world of lumpers and splitters. Lumpers prefer to combine as many plants as they can into a single genus or species, while splitters prefer to categorize in the opposite direction, creating new genera and species when they feel the science dictates. We
Re-arranging Limbs on the Family Tree – When is an Agave not an Agave? Read More »
Here’s a mid-December photo of our recent introduction, Agave ovatifolia ‘Kraken’, with its exceptional display of teeth and striking blue-green foliage. Agave ‘Kraken’ is a sport selected from Agave ovatifolia ‘Vanzie’ and will form a solitary specimen 4′ tall x 7′ wide.
The Kraken has Risen Read More »
With all the odd plants we grow, we are constantly experimenting with new propagation techniques. An idea we’ve played around with for years is being able to root agaves from leaf cuttings. Below is our latest success rooting a variegated selection of Agave ghiesbrichtii from a single leaf. The leaf was stuck right at 12
It only takes a Leaf Read More »
We make crosses on our flowering agaves during the early summer, then in some cases, must wait until fall to see if we were successful. If we don’t get pods formed within a few weeks, we know that the particular cross was a failure, but in some cases, the cross forms pods, but there is
To Breed or Not to Breed Read More »
