Agave 'Blue Glow'

[John Case]

I bought this plant a few years ago when it looked awful in 5 gal pot. They wanted $100, I got it for $50.

Put it in the ground, with its overwatered planting soil and it has never looked back.

I am not a big fan of most hybrids, but this one is a looker!

[SubTropicRay]

Lowe's had these locally for $18 in a 2 gallon.

[Sandy Loam]

I bought mine from Lowes for $6.00, actually. It must have been a 3 gallon --- maybe 2 gallon. It died a couple of months ago due either to too much rain or too much shade.

[Geoff]

Excellent Agave all around… even here where it gets down to 20F yearly this plant is no problems

[SailorBold]

Verrry nice.. I am still working on my collection perhaps I will add one of these. is it solitary?

[John Case]

There have been reports of pups, but I have never seen one......Geoff would know better than I

[David in Berkeley]

It does occasionally pup.

[Randall SD]

I really like these Agaves. I've had six of them growing for a few years now and they never put out any pups.

[Pete in Paradise Hills]

Nice agaves fellas

[John Case]

They look great and require no maintenance....my favorite!

[Ben in Norcal]

Need to find one of these

[John Case]

Ben,

They pop up every now and then...if I run into one, I'll pick it up for you.

Prices are way down from when I bought mine.

JC

[Sandy Loam]

I have to admit, my Agave "Blue Glow" was a very nice looking agave and very cheap when I bought mine. My problem is with finding agaves that are both shade-tolerant and rain-tolerant, even though I plant them on a raised bed or a rock pile with minimal soil. This one didn't make the cut because it died. I have to plant sharp and spikey things in the shade behind other plants because I have young children who play everywhere in the yard except in planting beds. Am I the only one who has this problem? It's the same problem with any agave, cacti and aloes. Those "dangerous" plants just have to go in behind other plants where they tend to get shaded out (even though they are sun-lovers), but at least my kids are safe from injury when they run and play. Ultimately, it ends up being a contest for which desert plants are the most shade-tolerant (very few, unfortunately).

[John Case]

Agaves, cacti, etc are in general, full sun plants. There, however, some that require some sun protection. If you fine a plant that you like, I would suggest that you take a look at online resources for some info before you purchase it. I have found that Dave's Garden (www.davesgarden.com) is a good site for plant culture of all types. Some of the experts from this forum have posted information.

A little searching for cacti, euphorbias (you may want to look at these as they require less sun) and other 'attack' plants are all online.

Good luck in your search.

JC

[redbeard917]

My Agave 'Blue Glow' suffered some cold damage this year with our first frost. I'm not certain of the low temp, exactly, but I'd estimate 25 deg F. Maybe it will gain hardiness as it gets larger and more established.

This pic is a month old. Now, the older leaves are mush, but the leaves in center are pretty much untouched. I'm optimistic it can make it here, and it's a nice plant that did well during the summer, so even if it doesn't make it I'll try again.

[Geoff]

Is that agave in the photos supposed to be your blue glow? Wrong plant if it is… Blue glows have no teeth, even as dinky plants… the leaf shape, color and spike look wrong, as does the fact it got damaged in your cold. Must be some identification error.

[PalmatierMeg]

Great little agave for me through sun or rain, heat and humidity.

[iwan]

My problem is with finding agaves that are both shade-tolerant and rain-tolerant, even though I plant them on a raised bed or a rock pile with minimal soil.

I don't know about FL rain, but you might want to look into Manfreda and xMangave (Manfreda x Agave). Most are much more friendly than most Agave with a similar rosette form. There are also Caribbean native Agave species. Agave braceana only has terminal spines, and is native to Bermuda. How much shade they will tolerate is a different issue.

[John Case]

Redbeard,

No water until the spring....it is dormant now any water will aid the rot. See if the rotted leaves will pull easily and get them away from the plant, mulch it with pebbles and hopefully things will work out. BTW, Geoff is right, no spines, just a sharp tip. Advice still holds.

Good luck,

JC

[redbeard917]

Well, now I have to keep growing it to find out what it is. I'll remove the mushy leaves asap. And now I need to find a real 'Blue Glow', those are nice plants.

[Palm crazy]

The other day I took a different rout and stumbled across an Agave ‘Blue glow' in a city park. Very cool to see the city plant agave.

For some reason agaves are really cheap here locally. One gallon agave are only $9 - $12 depending on the species.

[John Case]

Roger,

Call your city landscape manager and see if he has more or a source for you. Sometimes you can score something cool, especially if you have something to trade. It has worked for me.

[Palm crazy]

John,

I’ve tried to talk to the main landscape designer in the pass about planting palms but he doesn’t like them. Some areas of the city they redo the whole landscaping every 3 months, trees, shrubs, flower all there then BOOM! there gone and some new design with totally different plants go in. But the city has a strict policy not to give any plants away. Don’t really know why.

The good news is the local big family own nursery in town has been selling ‘blue glow’ for the last three years. I have three myself, or did until last winter they all rotted out that spring. The low was 16F last winter. There are a lot of really good wholesale nurseries in my county so the retail nurseries are really fully stock all year with new plants all the time. A very good plant selection for any gardeners taste.

This one in the park is in full sun, mine were not.

Edited January 15, 2015 by Palm crazy

[John Case]

Roger,

FWIW, min is on a hill and has been off irrigation for the past 2 years.....

We got less than 10 inches of rain last year and this year looks iffy. I do not plan on making changes.

Good luck in raising this hybrid!

JC

[Palm crazy]

Thanks John, my new one will go in a pot this spring. Such a pretty little agave, I will be watching the one at the park closely the next few winter to see how it does since it’s growing in plain soil. 55” rain here. LOL!

Edited January 16, 2015 by Palm crazy

[John Case]

As long as the soil drains well, it should be OK. However, if the soils remain wet, it may not be happy.....

[George Sparkman]

I have had a few that pupped as small plants without any stress factors to induce the pupping but it is fairly seldom.

The common mode of pupping is leaf base offsets that develop in conjunction with flowering, some right before but most after flowering is almost over.

One of my plants had more than 20 offsets. Interestingly some looked like BlueGlow but others took on characteristics of the parents (A.attenuata x A.ocahui).

Here is a picture of one my early ones in April of 2007 which flowered in 2010 being almost 4 feet wide at the time of flowering.

Here is the same plant recently (well not really the same plant - just the same root system) after the dominant leaf base offsets won the war and killed all the others. As you can see it is quite a large clump.

Here is another plant that is in flower right now showing a couple of offsets close to the center prior to flowering.

And here the same plant with the flower spike (the lower end).

This is my seventh BlueGlow to flower and they all behave fairly similar.

[John Case]

George,

Many thanks for your photos!

I was taken back by the size of the plant and the thickness of the flower spike. Maybe I should give mine a little water to speed the growth!

Thanks again!

JC