 |
Agave ovatifolia |
 |
| | Four-year-old plant |
|
| | Spring seedling, in October |
| Common name |
whale's tongue agave |
| Family |
agavaceae |
| Life cycle |
perennial (Z8-10) |
| Size |
3' |
| Light |
sun |
| Cultural notes |
well-drained soil; drought-tolerant |
From seed  |
germinate at room temperature with exposure to light
|
Forms a symmetrical rosette, wider than it is tall, of fleshy smooth silver-blue leaves with toothed margins and terminal spines. Takes at least 4 years to reach close to its mature size, and much longer than that to bloom, carrying chartreuse flowers on a tall stalk. Part of project Agave 2018; among the species I grew from seed, this one has grown fastest, and is also the only one that isn't damaged at all in our stronger freezes (into the mid-teens).
|
| | Patch of year-old plants in holding area, June |
| 
| | Third-year plant showing off the malevolent side and terminal spines on its broad leaves |
|
| | I love this plant up close – it's so architectural, with the contrasts between smooth sweeping curves and sharp spines, and between fresh blue-green and burgundy tips |
| 
| | Ouch-inducing spines and barbs |
|
In our garden, this plant grows in the following areas: Houston rock garden, left fence border, rock garden zone About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Agave ovatifolia
I welcome comments about my web pages; feel free to use the form below to
leave feedback about this particular page. For the benefit of other visitors
to these pages, I will list any relevant comments you leave, and if
appropriate, I will update my page to correct mis-information. Faced with an
ever-increasing onslaught of spam, I'm forced to discard any comments including
html markups. Please submit your comment as plain text. If you have a
comment about the website as a whole, please leave it in my
guestbook. If you
have a question that needs a personal response, please
e-mail me.
|