We had so many century plants flower last year, we didn’t bother gathering all of the seed. In our parking lot plantings, one particular form of Agave x loferox (lophantha x pseudoferox) dropped seed throughout the bed. By fall, we noticed small agaves coming up where the seed had fallen. In 39 years of growing
Naturalizing Agaves Read More »
If you attended the first weekend of our Winter Open Nursery and Garden, you got a chance to see many garden plants still covered with a layer of white, despite the pleasant air temperatures. For our upcoming second weekend, Feb 28, March 1,2, 2025, all of the snow has melted, and the hellebores continue to
Winter Open Nursery and Garden Read More »
One of our favorite clones of the North American native, Agave x protamericana is Agave ‘Funky Toes’. Below is our clump in mid-February, looking no worse for wear after a low of 14 degrees F. This is a splendid introduction from the former Yucca Do Nursery, that we’ve grown since 2004, and is a natural
A Century of Funky Toes Read More »
We always like to try new techniques, and when it comes to encouraging poorly offsetting century plants to produce offsets, anything is on the table. While we typically drill out the central core as we’ve show before, we thought we’d try a little Henry XIII action on this one. When agaves age, they often produce
Off with it’s Head Read More »
Several years ago, one of our agave seedlings from a cross of Agave lophantha x Agave x pseudoferox, germinated with golden foliage. As it grew, it showed a seasonal color change from having green leaves in summer and fall, but brightening to gold in winter. Although, we’ve named this Agave x loferox ‘Sunbeam’, we’re still
Century of Sunbeams Read More »
Most years in fall, we sell off several of our large potted specimen century plants to make room in our overwintering greenhouse. 2024 was no different, but as is usually the case, all of the plants don’t sell. One that didn’t move was our large pot of Agave asperrima ‘Grand Duke’, so we decided to
Grand Duke Surprise Read More »
One of our 2019 selected offspring from our cross of Agave ovatifolia and Agave x pseudoferox, and subsequently named Agave x ovox ‘Picture Perfect’ is looking lovely in the garden in January, as it shows off its amazing leaf banding and bud imprinting. This has only been in the ground for five years, so it’s
I remember first seeing on-line images of Agave bracteosa ‘Monaco Princess’ over two decades ago, and it was lust at first sight. Tracking down my new found target of desire proved much more difficult than I could have ever imagined. After some deep on-line dives, I was able to determine that the plant was discovered
Lusting after the Princess of Monaco Read More »
Looking lovely this week in the garden is our clump of Agave x protamericana ‘Silver Surfer’. This 2007 Plant Delights/JLBG introduction is our winter hardy (Zone 7b) selection from seedlings of a 1992 Yucca Do seed collecting expedition (YD 45-83) at 5,200′ in Palmillo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, where Agave americana ssp. protamericana intergrades with Agave asperrima.
Century Plant Superhero Read More »
I was fascinated recently, while observing the water puddles on an agave leaf after a recent rain event this winter. These natural phenomenon are often missed as we hurry through life, or are even things we simply take for granted. In fact, each aspect of life is quite more complex than we realize. The cause
