The agave round-up

Since early May I've been sharing photos of blooming agaves in the greater Portland area over on my Instagram account, I decided it was high time to do a round-up here on the blog. 

We start with a blooming Agave ovatifolia at Electric Lettuce (a cannabis dispensary) in SW Portland, photo taken on May 2nd.

If I remember correctly this particular plant had some damage a couple winters back and that's why it's got the odd double head—both growing points are going to bloom. I really should get back over there and see what it looks like now that the spikes are taller.

Nearby, this agave is perfection.

There used to be a couple more agaves, but now there are hosta. Ya, I don't get it either.

This next agave brings about the end of an era, the last of the agaves referred to by some Portlanders as the “Sacramento agave” (the original bloomed a few years back, pups that grew in the same spot went by the same name). I believe it was decided this is an Agave salmiana var. ferox, the “Sacramento agave” name came about because it grows on Sacramento St. in NE Portland.

The owners mentioned they were considering planting another agave when this one is done with the show, a little further back from the sidewalk though, since the original(s) they inherited with the house leaned out precariously, threatening passersby.

These photos were taken on May 22nd, I really should do a drive-by of this one again soon too.

A few kind folks had sent me messages that an Agave ovatifolia at Blooming Junction Garden Center in Cornelius, Oregon, was blooming. I stopped by on my way out to the beach (Manzanita) at the end of May. Of course while I was there I needed to visit all the agaves. 

I believe this is one of the Agave parryi forms.

Another form of Agave parryi...

I hiked up to the top of the berm, to get a close-up look at the row of big boys that face NW Zion Church Rd.

Can you imagine when these bloom? It will be a traffic stopping event for sure. 

Well, that is if people even notice. Plant blindness is a real thing I'm afraid, even when it's a big blooming agave.

Like this! 

Over near the entrance to the nursery is the Agave ovatifolia that's going for broke. I stood there admiring and photographing and folks just walked right on by, not even seeing it.

Such a freaky thing...

Inside the nursery there was a nice selection of agaves for sale.

Knowing my Agave ovatifolia 'Frosty Blue' are going to be doing similarly in the not to distant future (although I'd love them to put it off as long as possible) I bought one to have on hand and start growing it up in size. I couldn't resist a shot showing the difference between the two.

During the recent HPSO Study Weekend friends and I made a quick stop at Blooming Junction, so here's an updated photo. The above was shot on May 30th, and below on June 29th.

Next up, another A. ovatifolia, this one on Willamette Blvd in North Portland.

There are three A. ovatifolia planted in a row, but only one is blooming.

Photos taken on May 31st.

I wonder when the other two will do their thing?

An attractive hellstrip of the same garden, just around the corner...

Breaking with the Agave ovatifolia trend is this Agave havardiana at Iseli Nursery, photos from June 11th.

Another instance when just one of a trio is blooming. 

There are pups quite far from the main plants.

And this, interesting to see. Tiny pups also blooming at the same time!

Quite a distance...

And pups so small you really only see the flower buds. I wonder if over time the pups have been cut down as part of garden maintenance and that's why this is happening on such small plants?

Next up, Agave parryi at Dancing Oaks Nursery. I was there on June 21 and snapped these photos. If you didn't know there were agaves back there this would be a confusing sight.

These poor fellows are getting buried by neighboring plants.

One last bloomer to share, another Agave ovatifolia. Photos from June 26th.

There used to be a few at this address in NE Portland, but one bloomed a few years back and I think maybe the other was taken out.

It's fun to see so many agaves around town blooming, it feels like we've reached a sort of critical mass of agave appreciation (and warming temperatures). If you're up in the Seattle/Tacoma area there's a Agave parryi var. truncata blooming at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. King-5 News did a spotlight on it, here.

Before I end this post I have to share sad agave goings on in my garden. This agave ovatifolia is planted at the SE corner of our front garden where the driveway meets the public sidewalk. It went in back in 2017, took awhile to settle in, but had been looking fantastic up until earlier this spring. Now it looks like this...

Awfully sad right?

The center is still solid (if I grab it and wiggle it doesn't move), but it's not a pretty sight. I had another that was looking rough at one point (I shared photos of it in this post) but it's grown out of it and looks great now. That gives me some hope...

Speaking of looking great, here's the same plant back in November of 2019. Interestingly that Yucca rostrata has also gone to plant heaven. If my memory serves I gave up on it in early spring 2024. Is there something bad going on in the soil? 

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