Friday, May 1, 2009

Agave desmettiana 'Variegata'

Earlier this week over on digging Pam posted beautiful pictures from an Austin garden visit. As usual she did an amazing job of capturing the look and feel of the garden. What really stood out for me were the great shots of variegated Agave desmettiana. A beautiful specimen! In reply to my comment Pam asked if I have this agave, and I do! I thought I’d end the week and start the month of May with a couple of shots of this fav.

Mine came to me as a gift, another from my brother in Arizona, it's my oldest child...oh no, yikes! I mean my oldest agave. My parents brought it back from AZ in their motor home; it was in the shower whenever they weren’t. Thankfully it was much smaller then.

It came without a tag so I’ve never known what it is, or how hardy it is. I harvested a few pups from it last summer and since I was unaware at the time I planted them outside as a test. The main plant has always been in a pot, out in the summer, inside in the winter. Then this February at the NW Flower & Garden show in Seattle I saw one, finally I had a name to put with the plant! When I got home I researched it and discovered that it is only hardy to 25 degrees. Surprisingly a couple of the pups are actually hanging on. We’ll see what happens this summer. Happy May!

11 comments:

  1. I see that this agave is spiky only at the tip. I like the apple green colour. The cream sides make it more interesting. Beautiful! I hope the pups will grow well.

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  2. I love this agave. I love all agaves. This makes me want to go plant shopping, even though I'm trying to resist. Maybe the right answer is to just harvest the pups on my two survivors that have them. How do you harvest pups, and do they usually all make it? I only have a few.

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  3. Your shot is awesome... taken from unfamiliar angle... nice looking plant.. Bangchik

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  4. Thanks Stephanie, the color on this one really is apple green, great description.

    Megan - I was at Portland Nursery (Stark) last night and saw an amazing agave, I thought of you as you seem to shop there a lot (?). I can't remember the name, I saw the price ($49) and tried to forget about it. Harvesting the pups involves unpotting the agave and basically just working the pup free of the soil and then cutting the main root that connects it to the mother. It should have several other roots going strong to carry it on. I usually pot them up again right away but have had several (like the ones my bro just sent) out of the soil for days and they do just fine. I read something once about it being actually better for the mother plant and the pups to separate them but have no idea if that is really true or not.

    Thanks Bangchik! Do you have any agave?

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  5. Ah! What a beauty! I think Agave desmettiana variegata has the most pleasing, almost feminine shape of any agave - she just presents herself like a supermodel. Like Jessica Stam.
    The bigger this agave gets, the more elegant - and I think that removing the pups helps the shape... otherwise she gets pretty congested.
    We have an AAS - Agave Admiration Society - you, me, Pam, and Megan!

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  6. You know you are right Germi...this one does have a feminine shape, I hadn't thought of it before but it's true. So...what will we do with our AAS? Are there dues? Do we meet and tour botanical gardens? I guess we'll need sponsors to pay for airline tickets since we are in separate cities...

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  7. Sorry for all the at-once comments, I'm getting caught up on the internet after a few days of hectic work. Hey, have you been over to Pomarius in NW? It's a nursery next to Bedford Brown, kind of under the fremont bridge, maybe on 14th and Vaughn or something like that. They have a few agaves there. Too spendy for me to do right now while I'm being thrifty, but still exciting. It's not as big of a selection as cistus, but it's good for a quick nursery fix. I was going to post about that later this week, but it seems like you would want to see that place if you haven't yet.

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  8. Megan - I hadn't even heard of Pomarius until I read the bit on the Portland Spaces garden blog. Now with you mentioning it too I've gotta go! Thanks for the info. I'm trying to be thrifty myself...not knowing exactly what the future holds.

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  9. AnonymousJuly 18, 2009

    Google this Agave and found your site. Do I understand you (and your Agave) are in Seattle? I recently purchased a desmettiana variegata and I love, love, love it. But now I'm worried about what to do with it during our Seattle winters...Mine is still small enough to come indoors...but I can't imagine it will much like the low winter light. Your thoughts? Great pics too.
    Shaun

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  10. Shaun, unfortunately this Agave needs much warmer temps than you can provide. I am in Portland...close to Seattle! I do bring it inside for the winter and it is under simple florescent tubes, along with other agave and warmer climate plants. Yours should do fine with the most light you can provide during the winter in Seattle, maybe move it around a bit so it gets different amounts. Mine stays outdoors all summer long and is very happy. Good luck! And thanks for visiting the danger garden!

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  11. Be careful not to get any of the sap on you skin with beauty otherwise you will regret it for days!!

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