Agaves in Florida

[tank]

I was wondering which agaves folks have managed to grow in the humid southeast.

Here is a brief list of plants that I have in the ground here in Gainesville Fl that have survived at least 2 years and are doing fairly well.  They’ve seen 22 – 24 F lows, although temps in the upper teens aren't uncommon.  We’ve also been in a drought.  

There are definitely other "proven" humidity tolerant agaves and I'm hoping to expand this list.

Surprises:

A. colorata (In a raised bed.  Has pups!)

A. gentryi

Failures:

A. zebra (did fine in the winter, melted in the summer)

Other:

A. augustifolia

A. americana (blue, verigated, medio picta)

A. neomexicana

A. parryi var. truncata

A. parryi var. parryi

A. weberi

A. salmiana

A. macrocantha

A. potatorum

A. geminaflora

A. filifera

A. lopantha

A. scabra

[FRITO]

Nice list Jason.

I have americana (variegated and blue), seem bullet proof here, although I know of only a handful large specimens here in town. maybe a bias against agaves?

I have been growing A. Celsii also for over a year now. bright green form.

survived low 20's.  A couple plants had very minor damage in 4" pots.

Agave angustifolia 'Marginata' - grows well here. unsheltered in full sun. take heat and cold. had some leaves burn from cold in low 20's this past winter. recovers quickly

Agave parrasana- slower than americana and angustifloria. more tender to cold also. had about 50% damage from low 20;s it was in a clay pot and surely had the roots freeze. smaller "pups" had no damage under porch eve on same winter night.

~

[tank]

Luke,

A. angustifolia is one of my favorites.  Mine are marginatas as well.

Check out A. americana "medio picta".  Mine have a shock white central stripe on each leaf and tend to have a more "stocky" look than the other A. americanas.

I've been looking for the Grey A. celsii (is celsii now mitis?) although I'm not sure if celsii would be long term here in the ground.  It doesn't sound like it would do well down into the teens (F).

[Kris]

Dear Gentlemen  

Are you gona feed the visual man(Me) with some bone sticks !

i.e is there any stills of any of the above varities_Please !  

Thanks & Love,

Kris  

[Dave-Vero]

Flora of North America has info on Agaves growing wild in Florida.  The Florida online plant atlas lists:

Agave americana  AMERICAN CENTURY PLANT      

Agave decipiens  FALSE SISAL    

Agave desmettiana  DWARF CENTURY PLANT    

Agave neglecta  WILD CENTURY PLANT    

Agave sisalana  SISAL HEMP      

Agave vivipara  CENTURY PLANT

[tank]

From the few pics and info I've seen on A. neglecta, it looks and sounds lot like A. weberi.  I've also seen some speculation that it may be the same species.

Agave taxonomy is confusing.

I've never actually seen any of the florida native species in the wild.

[tank]

Some not so great pics of A. americana "medio picta" for Kris.

[STEVE IN SO CAL]

You floridians should try Furcraeas...their propensity to trunk is a bonus, too. This is Furcraea Roezlii/beddinghausii/longeava....

http://www.plantesdusud.com/IMG/jpg/suc111640x480.jpg

Mine took 20 f this winter with no damage...

[SunnyFl]

(STEVE IN SO CAL @ Jul. 25 2007,19:10)

QUOTE

You floridians should try Furcraeas...their propensity to trunk is a bonus, too. This is Furcraea Roezlii/beddinghausii/longeava....

http://www.plantesdusud.com/IMG/jpg/suc111640x480.jpg

Mine took 20 f this winter with no damage...

Are they really that blue-ish?  Very striking.

I'm partial to A. attenuata - Fairchild has them, as does Tropiflora in Sarasota - at least it did last spring.  So I'm assuming it would be a good choice for FL - would it?

[STEVE IN SO CAL]

Ag. Attenuata could probably take the heat and humidity, but they melt if you wave an ice cube over them....

Especially the variegated ones

[Kris]

Dear Jason  

thanks for the stills.and that variety looks like a military hardware.looks rock solid item ?

Dear Steve from so cal  

thanks for the link and also for the stills from your collection.

these varities are indeed mouth watering !  

lots of love & Also wish to see more,

Kris  

[gandryko]

I am attaching a photo of the three Agave attenuata that I have been growing for two years in Palm Coast (officially, Zone 9a but Zone 9b, according to the Florida Climate Center).  In addition I grow A. striata, and A. weberi, as well as A. americana and its variegates; 'Mediopicta' and 'Marginata'.  I have also have had the variegated Furcraea foetida for the same amount of time.

[STEVE IN SO CAL]

George...I believe what you have there is agave Desmettiana, not Attenuata...no terminal spine on Attenuata.

Furcraea foetida medio picta is a stunner...one of my favorite succulents.

[tank]

(STEVE IN SO CAL @ Jul. 25 2007,19:10)

QUOTE

You floridians should try Furcraeas...their propensity to trunk is a bonus, too. This is Furcraea Roezlii/beddinghausii/longeava....

http://www.plantesdusud.com/IMG/jpg/suc111640x480.jpg

Mine took 20 f this winter with no damage...

I kinda assumed that inland N. Florida was just outside of their range, at least planted out.  Maybe a little to cold, a little to wet, a little to frequently.  They are great looking plants though.

[tank]

(krisachar @ Jul. 26 2007,02:43)

QUOTE

Dear Jason  

thanks for the stills.and that variety looks like a military hardware.looks rock solid item ?

Dear Steve from so cal  

thanks for the link and also for the stills from your collection.

these varities are indeed mouth watering !  

lots of love & Also wish to see more,

Kris  

Very much like military hardware.

Since they were purchased from Califonia, they may stretch out.  Most agaves seem to take on a looser form and stretch out in the humidity.

[gandryko]

I had only seen pictures of Agave attenuata, so it was easy to believe the label on the plants I bought.  Now that you mention it, Steve, I think that somewhere along the line I  did read that attenuata is spineless, but I guess that I convinced myself that  meant the leaf margins and not the tip.    

My plants don't look much like the photos I've seen of A. desmettiana , though.  The leaves are somewhat folded at the tips, but overall the blade is flat,  not folded along the entire length.

[STEVE IN SO CAL]

George..99.9% sure they're Desmattiana. It's a very gracefull plant...here's a strongly variegated one.

BTW...agaves are variable, notice the marginal teeth on this one. Stronger more pronounced teeth on the left side than the right.

[Kris]

Dear Friends  

here are few of mine,but have doubts wheather they all fall under the catagory of plants which are in discussion.and once

again friends thanks for those lovely visuals...

here are my stills from our roof top gardens...

[Kris]

one more

[Kris]

..

[Kris]

Dear Steve  

is this plant the same as you have posted,since this one came to me as gift from Maximus(Max).he gave me its name but i

could not rememeber it right now !

here is that still of that yucco..recovering from the transport shock ! and it did not come to me bare root(i had potting medium in its roots.)our country allows any seeds or plants along with the soil medium.

[STEVE IN SO CAL]

Kris...that looks like Agave Sisalana Variegata. Hard to tell because of it's desheveled appearance. If it's a yucca, then Zac would be the one to ask...

[palmmermaid]

(Dave-Vero @ Jul. 25 2007,12:37)

QUOTE

Flora of North America has info on Agaves growing wild in Florida.  The Florida online plant atlas lists:

Agave americana  AMERICAN CENTURY PLANT      

Agave decipiens  FALSE SISAL    

Agave desmettiana  DWARF CENTURY PLANT    

Agave neglecta  WILD CENTURY PLANT    

Agave sisalana  SISAL HEMP      

Agave vivipara  CENTURY PLANT

You have to go to areas of scrub to see the agaves growing in the wild.  Yamato Scrub or the Lake Wales Ridge area have some.  The high scrub areas we have are populated with many plants more closely related to the desert plants or the southwest than anything else in the state.  They are found mostly on ancient dune lines - the largest and oldest being the Lake Wales Ridge.  Very interesting habitat and one not usually associated with Florida.

[tank]

I grew up in Winter Haven, FL and have spent some time on the ridge as a child.  Remember lots of Yuccas, prickly pear, gopher tortoises but no agaves, not that they weren't there, I probably just wasn't aware of them.

[Kris]

Thanks,dear steve  

[Roaringwater]

Some of you might enjoy this sequence of my Agave mitis (celsii) flowering.  It took 10 years to reach flowering size.  Agave mitis comes from high altitudes in southern Mexico, and does well in cool, mild climates.  Here's how it looked 18 months ago:

[Roaringwater]

Then, last summer, it started to do this.  Agave mitis is one of the few Agave species that branch above ground.  This was a prelude to the main rosette flowering.

[Roaringwater]

A few months ago, the flower spike began to emerge:

[Roaringwater]

It's not the tallest spike, but there are a lot of flowers on it:

[Roaringwater]

Finally, a close-up of the flowers:

[Kris]

Dear Micheal  

Thanks for the stage by stage illustration and i like it since iam a visual man.visuals are a feast to the eyes...

love,

Kris  

[Paul S]

Hey, Mr Prime, how come the IPS gets treated to the whole sequence and we only get the one still!?    

[FRITO]

ok, got some photos of the agaves in my collection

Agave angustifolia 'Marginata'

same

[FRITO]

A. Americana variegated

A. Celsii

A. americana and parasana

[Kris]

Dear Luke  

thanks for the stills and this post is becoming more and more intreasting as days go by !

love,

Kris  

[STEVE IN SO CAL]

Luke...your Parrasana looks Potatorum-ish to me (aren't agaves fun?)

[FRITO]

Steve,

thanks for te comment, after further inspections, I believe you are correct on the ID of A. Potatorum. it also explains some its cold sensitiveness.

certain species of agave can be so variable.

~

[Al in Kona]

I have only several varieties of Agave.  I really like A. geminiflora - had one very nice plant but it flowered and then died.  I do have a replacement however.   The agave  pictured below has grown very big - it is Agave guiengola . . .  (note my small Pseudophoenix ekmanii to the right rear of it)

[tank]

Al,

That A. gueingola is great.  I'd love to try one here but I heard they start taking damage at 25F.  I wouldn't expect you to have any experience with its cold tolerance, but if you do, I'd like to know.  The leaves have a very different shape.  I have seen some that were very pale grey and striking.

[Alicehunter2000]

Bump