AGAVE ATTENUATA

Photos taken my myself in my garden. Fotos clicadas por mim em meu jardim.

To know better the resistant Agave Attenuata, click Here.
Para conhecer melhor a resistente Agave Attenuata, clique Aqui .

AGAVE ATTENUATA: QUEEN OF MY GARDEN

Click on photos to enlarge





My garden is not much tidy and I struggle a lot against a legion of hungry ants. Many times these numerous insects invade my garden, with their jaws open and shut like a pair of scissors, cutting down my flowers and plants. Ants occur worldwide but are especially common in hot climates, like my region. (It’s amazing, 22,000 ant species are expected to live on planet Earth!). But there is a great winner and survival on my garden: the beautiful and imposing Agave attenuata. Agave attenuata is a species of agave (succulent plants) sometimes known as the “elephant’s trunk”, "lion's tail", "swan's neck", or "foxtail" for its development of a curved stem, unusual among agaves. Native to the plateau of central Mexico, it is popular as an ornamental plant in gardens. Chiefly Mexican, they occur also in the southern and western United States and in central and tropical South America.


The stems typically range from 50-150 cm in length, and eventually old leaves fall off, leaving them naked and visible. The plants have a large rosette of thick fleshy leaves generally ending in a sharp point. It may take up to 10 years to bloom. My Agave attenuata take up 20 years to blooming! Attenuata’s flower spike is a thing of wonder, and will either produce greenish-yellow flowers or thousands of small plantlets, on its' entire length. Each plant stalk blooms only once. Unlike other members of it's family this plant doesn't die after flowering.

Agave attenuata are best propagated by digging pups produced at the base of older plants and seeds germinate readily when they are fresh. These plants needs full sun to partial shade, with a well-drained soil mix. I like to make gifts to my friends with an Agave’s pups.