Looking great in the garden after a low of 15F is our introduction, Agave ovatifolia ‘Cameo’. This variegated century plants is one we discovered as a sport on Agave ‘Vanzie’. The blue leaves are edged with a wide muted green border. Despite the variegation, it has shown no loss in winter hardiness from the typical
Back in 2016, we were fortunate to flower a plant of Agave victoriae-reginae in the garden. We were intrigued to see if we could create a hybrid with it, and the amazing Agave ovatifolia. Since we didn’t have Agave ovatifolia (pictured below) in flower that year, we used pollen we’d saved from a 2013 flowering,
Victor Victoria – Sex in Reverse Read More »
One of our more interesting new century plants is Agave ovatifolia ‘Glowing Angel’. This exceptional plant originated here, as a sport from Agave ‘Awakening Angel’, but without the blue edge. In winter, the foliage turns blue, but in early spring, the plant glows, with the intensity of the color radiating out from the center, which
Here’s a view in the garden this week. One of our goals is to teach people how to have a garden that looks good all year, where the climate will allow. The gold conifer in the back is Chamaecyparis ‘Lemon Thread’. In the foreground is Agave ovatifolia and Beschorneria ‘Fire Towers’
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 »
Several years ago, plantsman Hans Hansen shared an Agave ovatifolia mutation he’d found. This unusual sport shared a trait of many hosta, viridescence. This occurs in both gold and variegated hostas which are brighter in spring, but age to green. Such is the case with Agave ovatifolia ‘Awakening Angel’. We had a theory that this
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 »
Below are three of our final selections of Agave x ovox, which we made out of several hundred seedlings. These are each sister seedlings from our cross of Agave ovatifolia x Agave pseudoferox ‘Bellville’ It’s always interesting to see how many different ways the genes sort out. These are from our 2018 cross, and only
Three Toothy Sisters Read More »
Think of it as an agave in drag. Sedum ‘Pride and Joy’ makes a unique combination in the early fall garden by adorning the base of this manly Agave ovatifolia.
Plant breeding is a wonderful hobby that attracts an array of hobbyists, as well a plant professionals. Many plants, such as hemerocallis, hosta, hibiscus, and iris, are so easy that they attract the majority of hobbyist breeders. Professionals and the craziest of the breeders occasionally focus on more difficult plants that few others are willing
