In Greek mythology, chimeras are imaginary creatures, often formed by combining parts of several other creatures together into one. Classic examples are centaurs and mermaids. In plants, there are three types of foliage chimeras, sectoral, mericlinal, and periclinal. Sectorial is represented by plants like Philodendron ‘Thai Constellation, which has randomly flecked leaves. Periclinal chimeras are
The Mystery of Chimeras Read More »
While most folks think of wabbits when the hear Peter Cottontail, I can’t help but think of a very special Mexican century plant, Agave albopilosa. Agave albopilosa is simply the most amazing agave species ever discovered, and one that took the succulent world by storm when it was first published in 2007. The small population
Mexican Peter Cottontail 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 »
We hope you can join us for our upcoming 2024 Summer Open Garden and Nursery, July 12-14 and 19-21. The garden is looking absolutely fabulous, with an incredible array of plants to see and design ideas to borrow. Our experts are scattered throughout the garden and nursery to answer your gardening questions. Summer open house
Summer Open House and Garden Membership 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 »
We’ve grown a number of distinctive forms of the Zone 7 hardy century plant, Agave lophantha, through the years, but one of our favorites is the Yucca Do introduction, Agave lophantha ‘La Bufa Baby’, currently on sale. This was originally discovered in the Sierra Chiquita Mountains of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It’s the only selection we’ve seen
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
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 »
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 »
Our garden patch of Agave lophantha ‘Splendida’ is looking rather splendid this morning as we approach December. This patch started as a single rosette in 2013, so has now been in the ground for a little over a decade. We think it’s one of the best forms of the North American native Agave lophantha that
Splendid Splendida Read More »
