Tuesday, December 8, 2020

So they've gotta be over 40-yrs old...

Acting on a tip, I drove over to the west side of Portland on the hunt for a couple agaves...

And found them! Walking up to photograph I spotted someone in the driveway, so I asked if it was okay to photograph the agaves. She must have thought I looked fairly harmless and shrugged her shoulders and told me to go ahead. I could tell from her reaction she didn't have a real vested interest in the plants, but I thought I'd push my luck and asked if she planted them, nope they were the work of her dad, planted when she was just a baby.

Now what you need to know about me is I have zero ability to judge someone's age. Back when I worked retail and it was customary, when accepting a check, to ask to see ID, I always played the "how old are they" game in my head. I was always wrong. So she must of sensed the fact I was trying to decide if it was okay to ask her age when she shared, "so they've gotta be over 40-yrs old"...

This one has some similarities to an Agave ovatifolia.

This big boy is a mystery, although maybe an Agave montana?

It's a looker whatever it is.

I could not stop snapping photos!



Finally it occurred to me to line it up with the roofline. Bingo! That's the shot.

There were a few opuntia tucked into, and at the base of, the old rock wall.

And an Agave parryi partially obscured by grasses.


Thanks for the tip @primativemodern!

Weather Diary, Dec 7: Hi 49, Low 35/ Precip 0 

All material © 2009-2020 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

19 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. I was so happy to be alerted to them, I would have never been in that part of town otherwise.

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  2. I would agree with you about the big one being a montana.

    Great looking specimens :)

    Surely they must be close to flowering size and age?

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    1. Yes that's what I was thinking. I'll have to try to remember to do drivebys to watch them.

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  3. In a recent post about the Mitchell's garden, there were many examples of agave and conifers combinations. It seems this West Portland garden has similar style. I just love that old agave next to the gnarly pine tree.

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    1. Well similar combinations, this garden is left to be rather wild, whereas the Mitchell's garden is pristine.

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  4. It's nice to see agaves that old. I'd be pleased if my whale's tongue and 'Blue Glow' Agaves held on even half of that time before flowering.

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    1. I've tossed my oldest (containerized) agaves due to mealy bugs, otherwise they'd have been getting near blooming age.

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  5. Pretty cool. Looks like they are thriving despite the crowding and neglect. Love the chain link-like leaf marks down the blades.

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    1. That's a new description! I've never heard "chain link" but it works!

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  6. It is always sad to me when a gardener is gone for whatever reason and the next people are not willing to give proper care. The Agaves are beautiful though and I do love the Montana and the parryi that seem to be fending for themselves.

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    1. I got the feeling perhaps the parents weren't gone, but just aging. Who knows though.

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    2. Well, then it would be even sadder if they were to see it now!

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  7. Wow, they are amazing and to think they have survived so many winters, too.

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  8. #plantforposterity
    #youllbedeadwhenitsatitsbest
    Lovely story. Agave ovatifolia wasn't officially "discovered" at the time of planting, so I wonder if the first plant is one the many forms/love-children of A. havardiana? Any agave experts to weigh in?

    Also something sublime about the inspired-by-nature combo of them, all icey blue, under very green pines. Thanks as ever for the wonderful moments, Loree.

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    1. You make a very good point about the ovatifolia! I should have thought of that... I'll see if I can't get a couple expert opinions.

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  9. Wow, thanks for sharing. That Agave along the roof line is really special; makes me wonder if the father who planted it had that in mind. Actually, I like all your photos of it against the roof, at different angles. Impressive.

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    1. The sky certainly cooperated with my photo taking, glad I ventured out that particular day.

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