I love cacti and succulents, and I am crazy about agave. I have many, different all, and some are prettier than others. I have this one, that is so intriguing to me, and I don't even know it's name. 
This agave is planted in our Native Plant Garden. It has a kind of unusual history, in that my husband found this agave at our local dump. Our county maintains a brush site for residents, where we can haul tree limbs, and other garden refuse. They grind it for mulch, and we have mountains of it, a lot of which is now wonderful compost! I digress...
One day, a couple of years ago, we took a trailer load of limbs and stuff to the dump. We always wander around, looking at what has been unloaded before we got there, because we have found some very nice plants there. People don't know what they have sometimes, and they throw it away. This agave, and three others had been thrown away. We gathered them all, potted them up when we got home, and set them in the hoop house.
Last year, we donated this agave to the Native Plant Garden. It has more than doubled in size since being planted in the ground, and it is really pretty. The markings on this agave are such that I have never seen another agave like it. The agave next to it (behind it, in this picture) is
also a blue agave, but has no markings, and even has a smooth leaf edge.
The most spectacular difference is the marking of this agave. I think it is beautiful. We have harvested 4 pups from this agave already, and I can't wait to harvest more.
22 comments:
Hi Janie~~ What a find! How cool is that?! Do you visit Danger Garden's blog? She is an agave affectionato extraordinnaire. She might be able to help with the ID. She's on Blotanical.
Grace, I did go there and asked her to visit my blog to see this agave. I would love to know the name. Thanks, I appreciate the suggestion.
Oh it's a beauty, Janie! I love the story of its provenance too. What an interesting place to find plants, and you found a good one with this wonderful agave. Glad it is giving you pups too, well done!
Frances
I love to look at agaves, but I've never found a spot where I thought one would fit well into my garden.
There is a service station in town with a huge one in a bed of river stones, just beautiful. A house outside town had hundreds on a ditch in front. The couple who lived there died and I haven't seen what the new owners may have done with all those agaves.
Janie, I am thinking it is the Agave americana. I am trying to find a photo to confirm my thought. Save one pup for yourself. When they bloom it is their swan song. They used to be called Century plant. Do not take a century - usually live about 20 years. Nice specimen.
Ooh, Janie! This is a beauty! I love agaves, and now, I am jealous!Just gorgeous plant! And three puppies already? Congratulations! I need to find our local dump!
Wow, that is so neat that you saved it like that! I love unusual plants!
Blessings,
Lorilee
Really nice pics. I like the look of the plant. I can see it in my garden, if only we were 3 zones further south.
jim
Janie, what a gorgeous specimen! We tried growing one several years ago, but it got bitten by the cold. Perhaps we can try again.
Janie ! Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving such nice comments : ) I wrote a long comment back about the camera(s) I use .. I didn't want to take all that space up here with it, so if you pop over again ?
I absolutely LOVE agave ! and that is one beauty (well, you have more than one) but to harvest it from a green dump, TOO COOL !! haha
You are right about some people not knowing what they have : )
I'm going to have to stick you on my sidebar so I will remember to come back .. menopause is shrinking my brain BIG time, so I forget a lot .. what were we talking about again ? haha
Joy
Hello Janie, thanks for visiting Danger Garden! And thanks to Grace for the high praise. I do think that Tufa Girl is correct and you've got an Agave americana, my in-laws in New Mexico have gifted me a few just like this, unfortunately up in Portland, OR mine won't be getting this big. Great find!
Beautiful photos of a beautiful agave, Janie. I love agave also, but in CT they would have to be house plants. My husband and I enjoyed looking at huge agave plants during a trip to the Caribbean, but since I can't grow theme here we tend to enjoy agave in its liquid - tequila - form.
Have you asked AZplantlady? She did a post about those leafmarkings. I went to look at our aloes, but their markings are not nearly so impressive.
Janie,
A thumbs up on the Agave save. There is nothing better than finding a plant that you appreciate for free. That is except visiting a store and seeing the same plant being sold at some outragous price. Well done!
I have rescued a few plants from our compost center too! People like to throw spring bulbs away, and I gladly take them home. I plant them in a special bed, in case they have diseases. I even got a beautiful mum this year.
I love this agave. Very pretty and unusual.
That is very nice. I don't know a lot about agaves. My MIL has a century plant that bloomed this year (they live in the Central Valley in California) and she said it was at least 25 feet tall.
I love them too.
Bet they look superb under the hot Texas sun.
It must be very satisfying planting up the offsets.
Rob
Hi Janie,
Thank you for your email. I would have hated to have missed your Agave post. I have been busy, but will hopefully catch up tomorrow.
Your agave is beautiful. It is an Agave americana. They grow very large, produce lots of volunteers (pups) and are gorgeous. I hope you are having a great day!
Such a lovely Agave! The markings are so striking. The quest for discarded things is as much fun as finding a use for them.
Hi Janie - nice to meet you. I've found you on Blotanical but I can't find me either! I was there, then I didn't do anything on it for ages and I vanished!
I've had to put my URL in as an 'additional blog' and am now waiting for them to decide if they want me - again!!! I'm getting VERY frustrated with it all :(
Don't worry, it's not you! Hopefully I should be back up and running within a few days.
However, if you put
http://nuttygnome.blogspot.com into your address bar you should get directly to the whole of my blog to read the full saga in all its nuttiness! (i've just checked it and it does work!)
That agarve is fantastic! I've never tried growning them over here - I suspect our winters may be too cold and wet for them!
BTW, you may hate snow but I'm one of those sad individuals who love it!!! I've even got my snowflake earrings on this morning ...ever hopeful! :)
Hi Janie! It is either a very silvery Agave americana, or my initial thought was Agave franzosinii. It's a neat plant anyway, and I look forward to following your blog!
interesting plants. I love how you can see the impressions of the leaves (blades?) on each other. I think it was Longwood gardens maybe that had a flowering one a year or so ago. The flower spike got so high they had to take the panes off the ceiling!
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