An agave tour of my garden (aka The Agave Report)

Back in the day (way back) I used to write annual Agave Reports, updates on how the agaves planted out in my garden were doing (like this). The last time I did anything remotely comprehensive was in June of 2023, I decided it was time. These photos were all taken on November 11 around 4pm (the late hour is why the light is a little strange in some of the images). We start in the front garden...

Yucca bacatta in the back, Agave parryi ssp. huachucensis 'Excelsior' underneath.

It's the tiniest little agave that refuses to grow, but keeps on powering through. Its first winter in the ground was 2022-23.

This is the Agave ovatifolia I planted out just this September (and wrote about here).

I bought this agave unlabeled from Cistus Nursery YEARS ago. If I had to guess I'd say it was planted out in 2015? It also hasn't grown much—summer water makes agaves grow, and I'm stingy with it. For some reason I can't remember, I thought it was Agave 'Silver Surfer' when I bought it, now I'd guess Agave parryi var couesii.

Speaking of not growing, this pair of Agave bracteosa has been frozen in time since, hmm, 2011. Seriously, it was in my 2011 "not so big reveal" post. Poor things.

Agave parryi 'JC Raulston'. This is one (or four depending on how you count) of five (or more) of this species in the front garden. When I planted it (also back in 2011) it was thought to be a solitary agave, but now I see the Plant Delights description has been updated to say "slow to offset".

There's the Agave victoriae-reginae I wrote about in my "Ten Things" post.

Such a handsome fellow.

Backed up for a wider shot. Here you can see the A. victoriae-reginae, three more original Agave parryi 'JC Raulston', two Agave bracteosa and an Agave 'Mateo', as well as a a couple far-flung 'JC Raulston' pups.

While I was photographing I also did a little count. I was curious just how many agaves I had out in the front garden. 

In the past when counting I didn't count pups, but since many of them are now of viable size I counted some of them. For example, this cluster—which includes both Agave parryi 'JC Raulston' and Agave parryi var couesii I counted as six. You can clearly see there are at least eight individual plants, but I knocked off the two smallest.

So, what was the count? There are 66 agaves in the front garden. Sixty six! Who would have thought.

Another ''JC Raulston' (and pup) in the front, a long suffering (too shady) Agave ovatifolia in the back.

Walking back around to go up the driveway now, here's a look up into the garden.

From the other side...

Agave 'Baccarat' under the yellow-striped Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard', Agave ovatifolia and Agave 'Mateo'.

An Agave 'Baccarat' pup I planted as an experiment, I usually try to grow them larger but since the species is so tough for me I decided to try. It's been in the ground since summer 2024.

Before we walk up the sidewalk towards the front door let's visit the planting area next to the house, beside the driveway. Left to right: Agave bracteosa 'Monterrey Frost', A. bracteosa, A. parryi, A. 'Streeker', A. 'Mateo' and a few small A. victoriae-reginae that don't show up well from this far back (but you can see some them here if you're curious).

Moving a little to the right, towards the sidewalk: a NoID agave that I'm seriously thinking might be an A. 'Baccarat', a pair of A. 'Mateo' and a plant given to me as Agave montana 'Baccarat'.

Agave 'Mateo' 

NoID that I think might be an Agave 'Baccarat'.

And the small Agave montana 'Baccarat'.

Up towards the front door now...

These agaves are my garden superstars, they give me so much joy. I didn't design the garden so I'd be able to see them from inside the house, no matter how unfriendly the weather was, it just worked out that way. Thank god.

At the back, on the left, the large agave in the tall container, is a gifted agave whose ID has been lost to time. The big guy in the ground is Agave 'Baccarat', to his right Agave americana var. protoamericana. Cozying up to the 'Baccarat' is Agave parryi 'Notorious RBG' (my name for a NoID purchased at the Ruth Bancroft garden) and to the left A. parryi ssp. huachucensis.

There are a couple of 'Baccarat' pups in there that you can't see and I didn't count.

Agave victoriae-reginae 'Porcupine' in a container. This one is staying put as a winter experiment (as it did last year) thus it was counted.

There's the NoID gifted agave. I think it may be A. salmiana var. ferox, but I'm not sure.

Okay... on to the stars of the show, the pair of Agave ovatifolia 'Frosty Blue' in front of the house...

I planted them both in 2013 and they were just tiny things back then (photos here).

I could not love them more! I'm also very aware that several other Agave ovatifolia in the area (conceivably from the same tissue culture batch, or there abouts) have bloomed in recent years. We're living on borrowed time folks.

Back in the summer of 2024 I bought a gallon pot with multiple Agave 'Blue Glow' growing in it. I divided them and potted them up in containers that live along the house sidewalk in the front garden. The idea was I'd just let them be, and see how they did over time. Most of them are still going...

Agave 'Mateo' (my first of that species, which dates back to 2013).

More of the 'Blue Glow' (with an Agave montana mixed in for those of you with eagle eyes.

These pots remain in place throughout the year, unless something insane happens in which case I'll move them to the shade pavilion greenhouse for the event.

This Agave americana in the driveway stays in place as well. When nightmare temps have occurred it gets pulled into the (unfinished, unheated) garage but that's it. It's been doing well since 2017(?).

The number of agaves in the back garden has been decreasing as things have gotten shadier back there. I was surprised to count 30! Of course that doesn't count the ones in containers that have moved into the basement garden and shade pavilion greenhouse for the winter.

I've lost track of the ID on guy dead center in this photo, but there are plenty of Agave bracteosa, and an A. ovatifolia in the upper section on the left side.

More Agave bracteosa... 

Ditto, along with an Agave 'Mateo' and someone whose name I've forgotten and an Agave parryi 'JC Raulston' pup.

The same area moving north along the side of the patio.

And more of the same, with the exception of the agave up against the Yucca rostrata trunk which might be Agave univittata var. lophantha. It was in the ground through last winter, that's a small mangave tucked up next to it.

And even more Agave bracteosa and A. 'Mateo'... if you're getting the idea these plants are able to withstand about anything (including a lot of shade), you'd be right.

There's the back garden Agave ovatifolia, with an Agave bracteosa and A. 'Mateo' at its base.

Looking in from the side.

And another of those small Agave victoriae-reginae to end this post, almost, yes there's more rambling below...

I've been mourning the loss of connection that I used to feel on my personal Facebook page. For me FB was another way to connect with gardeners and plant people, both local and across the globe. When I found myself reading something plant-related that I wanted to share, FB is where I'd do it. That all changed with the mass exodus of folks when FB became less about authentic connection and more about selling things. 

I've also been thinking about the series of "shout-outs" Jerry added to the end of his blog posts on the 2024 Puget Sound Fling. In those postscripts he called out people who he spent time with, and highlighted what made them special (that's how I read them, I don't mean to speak for Jerry).

With both of those things in mind I'm going to start adding a bit to the end of my posts. Maybe a link to a story I want to share, maybe a shout-out to someone related to the post, or who made my day a little better. Blatantly stealing from Amy Stewart's Substack newsletter I'm calling it, The Bit at the End.

So today's Bit at the End is a simple shout-out to my friend Scott, aka Cotts Meery, aka edgeplot. When I visited Scott's garden last fall he asked why I hadn't done an updated agave tour post for a long time. That question stuck with me (I always kind of thought I was doing them for myself, it was interesting to have someone ask about them) and I finally made it happen, thanks for the push Scott!

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