Wednesday, June 24, 2009

It's Agave day in the danger garden

The sharp spikes, the embedded patterns, the elegant flower-like shape…is there anything as beautiful as an agave? These are some of the agaves in my collection; I’d love to see yours.
(I didn’t want to muddy up the pictures with words, if there are any that you would like ID on let me know and I’ll comment back with the name)

18 comments:

  1. I think my favorite is the top most one that has red teeth :) Very dangerous!

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  2. Great shots! I could never see enough Agrave shots to bore me. I have not seen any Agrave in nurseries around here so far..

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  3. You most certainly have evoked Georgia O'Keefe with these excellent shots!

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  4. You probably have more agaves than I do, Loree, which amuses me considering that you don't exactly live in a hot, dry climate.

    I'll try to get around to an agave post soon. Several of mine are in temporary pots until new sun beds get made in the front yard (where are those garden fairies, and why haven't they gotten ON that?!). Of all yours, I covet the attenuata the most.

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  5. Beautiful photos! And enhanced by your restraint in keeping the images word-free. I'd love to know the name of the fifth photo: it's yellow and gray-green and looks large. Is it one of those you have to bring inside for winter?

    I've posted my dinky collection of three. As far as I can tell from my reading, they should all be okay outside year-round (with good drainage) but if I'm wrong, please tell me.

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  6. Amazing plants! I like them all, but I'd pick number 2 and 7 as my favorites.

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  7. Andrea, that is one of my fav's too, the color contrasts are very eye-popping!

    Ben, seriously? None? I'm so sorry. Nobody should be agave-less. I might be getting a few more pups from my brother in Arizona and if you would like one I'd love to send you one, you'd probably have to keep it in a container I'm not real up on your climate there (I just clicked through to your blog - I'll have to read more later, thank you for the link). My email is in my profile. Email me your address.

    Thanks island gardener!

    Pam, yes but...you can actually put some of yours in the ground and they will achieve their full potential! Only 3 of the all the ones I photographed are in the ground here. The rest will forever live stunted lives - but they will be adored none-the-less.

    Jane, I can't wait, I'm heading right over there to see! The 5th is Agave Americana and it is big - it is my monster! Actually it stays outside all winter (too big to make it through the door) and is fine with our cold temps, just not the moisture. It has been living in the garage on rainy winter days and out on dry ones. It will move to the shade pavilion this winter, more light than in the garage!

    Tatyana, do you have any agaves? Number 7 is actually in the ground and spent the winter outside w/o any issues...I bet you could grow it too - it is an Agave montana and is hardy to z7 with good drainage (key)

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  8. Love all of 'em, but especially the A. attenuatta.
    Which one is that ?

    great photos !

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  9. Yeh! agave day... I love to see your agaves. Beautiful! Those patterns formed on the leaves are so amazing. If I am in your garden, I would spend a long time admiring them ;-) Nonetheless, good that you snapped these close up shots. Btw, I was wondering what agave is the one with nice green leaves in the third photo.

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  10. Deviant - thanks! Which one caught your eye? I have 3 different varieties and only showed 1 photo of each. Unfortunately I don't have definitive ID on any of them beyond just A. attenuatta and A. attenuatta variegated. Obviously one is much more variegated than the other and one not at all. This is what happens when you have limited sources and buy w/o good ID!

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  11. My favorite is all of them. I didn't notice that agaves had embedded patterns for quite a while, that was a happy discovery. Great idea for a post, although I think you probably have one of the best agave collections around, not many people will have so many to share.

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  12. Stephanie, glad you enjoyed! The one you asked about is A. attenuatta, a very slightly variegated variety.

    Megan, I couldn't pick "a" favorite either. Will you post pics of yours? I'd love to see exactly which ones you have. You know I kept thinking of others that I forgot to photograph so that wasn't even all of them. I guess I have a sickness...

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  13. They are all lovely, but I really enjoy the ones with the curlicue filaments (I'm sure there's a botanical name for them). I looked up the name once - filimentosa or something like that? Anyway, hard to choose a favorite, they all look great. I am scared of spikes at the moment with an active small kiddo around, but maybe I'll get one someday. Hope you never get that awful pest your brother is contending with at the moment!

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  14. Karen, you are right with the name - filamentosa. I completely understand about your fear of the spikes with a little person running around. Andrew was worried when we started talking about getting a pug (that's when the pug swim goggles became a joke between us) since they don't have much of a nose to protect them, Lila's really careful though. My brother told me a story about my nephew running around a corner and falling into one of his large agave. He got a few cuts but was very lucky. If you find one that you really want you got always just keep it in a pot up high.

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  15. Thanks BATGT - do you have any agaves?

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  16. Beautiful post-and as I had commented on Pam's blog I have also been planning an agave post. I am truly impressed with your collection, given the climate.

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  17. Thank you Nicole, I look forward to seeing your agave post!

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