In fact, fertilizing them may encourage flowering, which you don’t want, since most agaves die after bloom.Ĭontainer culture. With rare exceptions, agaves don’t need feeding. In the winter, depending on rainfall, you may not need to water at all.įertilizer. Irrigate twice a month in summer in the low desert and once a month elsewhere. After that, they should be established and will need little supplemental water. The first month or two after planting, irrigate plants every four or five days. If your soil is heavy clay, mix some pumice or gravel into the backfill and plant your agaves on a mound. But they’ll tolerate rich, loamy soil if it provides good drainage. Agaves are adapted to rocky, native soils and won’t need amendments. They tolerate most soils as long as they have good drainage, need only modest amounts of water, and rarely require fertilizer. Moreover, a few species of agave, such as Agave attenuata, don’t have spines. Because they produce litter sparingly, they are especially good around pools, she adds. Attractive in pots.Īccording to Mary Irish, former horticulturist at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, agaves also make excellent container plants because of their relatively sparse root system and their tolerance for crowding. Blue-gray leaves with reddish spine tips. Only 2 feet in diameter, this beauty is petite enough for any garden. The same goes for clarkia and poppies in California. Penstemon and desert marigold look twice as flowery and feminine with a few of these macho characters in their midst. In Southern California, agaves can add drama to lavender, rosemary, and other narrow-leafed Mediterranean plants.Īgaves also give structure to beds of wispy wildflowers. In the desert, the muscular texture of agaves is a welcome contrast to the fine leaves of acacia, dalea, and most other trees, shrubs, and perennials. “These living sculptures provide incredible design opportunities,” says Janet Rademacher of Mountain States Wholesale Nursery in Glendale, Arizona. That unusual combination of fierceness and symmetry makes agaves very useful in the West’s most arid gardens. But their wicked spines and leathery leaves remind you that the New World natives are plenty wild. Their perfect shapes – they’re often likened to giant stylized roses or artichokes – make these strapping plants seem like the essence of order.
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