Another one bites the dust...

A few weeks ago I posted a video on Instagram (here) of me pulling the center from my huge Agave weberi, it was completely rotted out. The soundtrack to the video was Queen's 1980 hit Another One Bite's the Dust—it seemed apropos. Well, que the band cause here we go again...

This is a photo from last summer, the agave with only months to live is the one with the white arrow over it, Agave 'Sharkskin'... 

Here it is during the late December storm, under the green arrow. We covered it earlier in the fall, to keep it dry. It's been sitting in that spot, in that pot, for years—I bought it in 2015. 

Peeking under the cover I could see some lower leaves weren't looking good, so I decided it was time to remove the cover and clean them up. Surprise!

It wasn't just the lower leaves that weren't doing well.

That's another large agave to add too my death list, I'm at 5 large (old) agaves now, and countless small ones. A reminder the ribbed container here used to hold Mr. Big, an Agave americana variegata.

What else is lurking under the covers?

Agave parryi, rotten.

Another, also rotten.

The Agave bracteosa remains solid (yay!). The small brown one at the back was a variegated Agave americana pup.

The A. parryis just lifted right up off the ground, one remained semi-intact even as I dropped it into the bin. 

So now it was time to be brave and take a close look at the big Agave ovatifolia in the container. I won't lie, I was very apprehensive as I peeled back that plastic. What would I discover?

It was solid! Thank god.

What the heck, I decided to check under the other two bamboo and plastic tunnels. These have been in place since sometime in early November, I cover them because a dry succulent is much better able to cope with cold. All the Agave bracteosa here look good, as does the Agave 'Mateo'. The Aloe striatula (Aloiampelos striatula) also look good.

These cute little NOID agaves are goners, ditto for the pinecone cactus behind them. 

I forget exactly which agave this was, obviously it's now mush.

Interesting. I guess not all of the Aloe striatula are happy. I have several different versions of this plant growing here, including a few seed grown plants from a friend. I wish I remembered which was which.

Happy Aloe striatula...

This opuntia (I think it might be 'Santa Rita', based on the color) came from my brother's place in Phoenix (2018). Honestly I was surprised it made it this long...

Under the other tunnel...

Agave montana

This one was labeled Agave parviflora but there was a general consensus among those of us who bought one (Home Depot was selling them a couple of years ago) that name wasn't right. I can't remember what it really was, and now it doesn't matter.

Agave americana var. protoamericana I think (came to me with mixed up labeling).

To the driveway now. The black pot was home to the Agave weberi I mentioned at the top of this post. The plant in the galvanized bin is an Agave americana, it was in the garage during the cold periods—it's a detached, unheated, unfinished space, but it was enough to keep this guy alive.

There were agaves here. Both of these metal pots had big agaves in them, I knew it wasn't the best place to plant them (thin metal not offering much protection against the elements) but took the risk and enjoyed them while they lasted. (the yellow leaves belong to a yucca that used to grow in the container and is making a comeback)

Not pretty, but still solid.

This is interesting, another Agave 'Sharkskin', but this one in the ground and it's solid. It received zero protection all winter. Nothing! I was treating it as an experiment since I had my other bigger/better plant in the container. Ha, you can see how that turned out. This one's not looking so great, but hopefully once we get some warm sunny days it will start to flush out with new growth. (The stump behind it is a cotinus I'm planning to remove)

This Agave 'Mateo' is in a container (hard to see but it's a thick cement pot covered with tiny rocks). I've been watching and worrying (since I've lost 5 others in containers) but so far it's okay. The small one on the right is an Agave x leopoldii in a container, it was in the shade pavilion greenhouse when the weather was nasty.

Let's wrap up this post with a look at the two big Agave ovatifolia 'Frosty Blue' by our front door.

This is the plant furthest from the steps, on the right in the above photo. It's still doing great. I am thrilled! Oh, the Euphorbia rigida are all flattened because of the foot of snow that fell on them last month. They didn't lose their blooms, but they did lose their upright posture.

Here's the center of the agave that has been "ailing" for awhile now, the one closest to the door.

I cut out a bad leaf a few weeks back, that's the brown stuff at the bottom. The other spots are getting bigger with each passing day—each COLD AND WET passing day—I pray we warm up soon and maybe this one will be okay, after all the center is still solid. 

There are many other agaves in the ground in my garden that are doing fine, either with no damage or minor damage. I don't want to jinx them by doing a "winners" post right away, but once we turn the corner and we're at least out of the 30's at night and reliably into the 60's during the day (that's really not too much to ask for!) then I'll do a happy agave post.

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