| Genus - Agave |
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| Species - Americana |
| Common
Names: Century Plant |
| Growth
Rate: Slow |
| Height: 2m |
| Spread:
1m |
| Position:
Full Sun |
| Hardiness:
Frost Tender. Zones: 8b-12. Protect in
winter by covering with 'Horticultural
Fleece'. |
| Soil:
Fertile, slightly acidic, sharply drained
soil (or cactus compost for containers). |
| Origin:
Mexico |
| Health:
Agave is a herbal medicine used for
inflammation (soreness, redness, and swelling),
infection, cancer, and high blood pressure. Ask
your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist before use. |
| This
architectural plant makes a fabulous focal-point in a cool temperate
greenhouse or conservatory or even as a summer patio pot plant. It
has rosettes of thick,
spiny-margined, spine-tipped, grey-green, succulent leaves. Towards the end of the plant's life a towering
yellowish-green flower-spike of up to 8 metres appears, after which
the plant dies, leaving small side-shoots to grow on.
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| It is essential to wear
robust gloves when handling these plants to prevent a painful injury
from the spiny thorns. During the summer water regularly and apply a
low-nitrogen fertiliser three or four times. Reduce the frequency of
watering in autumn and do not water in winter.
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| The agave requires a very well-drained soil and a
sunny position. Being a monocarpic species the plant lives for a number
of years without flowering but the rosette dies once it does. However, it normally produces plenty of suckers during its life and
these take about 10 - 20 years in a warm climate, considerably
longer in colder ones, before flowering.
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| Seed - Surface
sow in a light position in April in a warm
greenhouse or sunny windowsill. The seed
usually germinates in 1 - 3 months (Ideally
at 20řc). Prick out the seedlings into
individual pots of well-drained soil or
cactus compost when they are large enough to
handle and grow them on in a sunny position
in the greenhouse or windowsill. |
| Offsets -
Potted up in free draining soil or cactus
mix at any time they are available. Keep in
a warm greenhouse until they are well
established. |
| Make your own
cactus mix: 1 part multi purpose
compost, one part peat substitute, one part
coarse grit, one part sharp sand. Mix thoroughly. |
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Winter Protection: Bring
indoors, enclose within a temporary
greenhouse or cover with 'Horticultural
Fleece'.
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Increase the
growth rate of your agave by watering
frequently in summer with tomato feed.
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Agave species mixed seeds |
| A
wide selection with many unusual forms of agaves. Ideal
for dish gardens, carboys. Long-lasting, drought
resistant and trouble free. |
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Sow in trays, pots, etc of
good seed compost in a propagator or warm place to
maintain an optimum temperature of 70-75F (20-25C).
Surface sow and do not exclude light. Sowing Time:
February- July. On germination, apply a light sprinkling
of coarse gravel to help support the young seedlings and
lessen dampening off.
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Prick out into 5cm (2in)
pots, then 8cm (3in) and 15cm (6in) pots as required and
water carefully until established.
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Agave
Americana 'Century Plants' |
| A
basal rosetted, perennial succulent with sharply
pointed, toothed leaves. The blue-green leaves are sword
shaped with yellow edges. White to cream bell shaped
flowers are produced in spring/summer, each about 9cm
long, born on a tall flower spike. |
| An attractive, exotic
looking plant. Grow in a sunny situation indoors or in a
conservatory. |
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Protect from frost in winter if grown
outdoors. Height 2m.
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| Meet
Tamara |
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| Phil
Thompson talks about his affection for this colossal Agave |
| She’s big, she’s beautiful and she could live to be a hundred years old and then pass away peacefully whilst giving birth to several hundred ‘little ones’. I call her Tamara after an infamous but slightly biologically confused Ukrainian shot putter who, along with her equally well proportioned sister
Irina, dominated female field event athletics at both the Rome and Tokyo Olympics during the early 60’s. But, you may well ask, what has all this to do with gardening? Well, if you should happen to wander through the countryside or ‘Campo’ regions of the Southern Mediterranean you may quickly find the answer. ‘Tamara’ is a colossus example of Agave Americana or the ‘Century Plant’ as she is affectionately known by those with an affiliation towards nick-names. She is so referred to because of the awfully long time it takes her to flower as she spends her years body-building her incredible physique and storing sufficient nourishment inside to gestate her off-spring and perpetuate her amazing species. Mind you, in all honesty gardeners like fishermen always have a tendency to exaggerate and you’ll probably find she’s more than likely to pop her cork within 20 to 30 years. |
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| As a founder member of the world wide Agave family she does tend to dominate a garden party but her curvaceous form and sheer animal personality have softened the heart of many a gardening enthusiast. And, she has her uses! The ingenious populations of South America discovered centuries ago that her incredibly fast growing flower stem could be tapped prior to flower formation to provide a sweet liquid they appropriately called honey water. Left to ferment this became a rather toxic alcoholic drink known as Pulque, not dissimilar to Tequila! Historically speaking this could be the reason the species became so popular with the sun-worshippers of ancient Mexican civilisations. The immensely strong fibres which make up its wickedly sharp serrated edged leaves also came in handy for the weaving of both cloth and rope whilst the needle pointed tip probably had its uses which I’d rather not explore! |
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| She’s
the product of what I believe to be two or possibly three
generations worth of local Spaniards so she’s certainly been
around for quite a while. I think the key to her
incredible growth and longevity is the precise location.
She’s approximately 600 metres up a mountainside near the
town of Ojen and must have self-rooted on the inside of
an olive grove wall which was originally built at the bottom
of a 30 degree slope of an old terraced olive grove.
The wall constitutes the very bottom edge of the both the
olive grove and the slope itself which stretches upwards for
at least 4/500 meters. Therefore, any rainfall
over the decades that fell drained down to the bottom of the
grove bringing with it bucket loads of nutrient including the
rotted remains of many tonnes of olives themselves. So,
she’s sat there for decades, on a south facing slope
at the bottom of a food and drink chute gorging herself
totally undisturbed. She has to rate as the ultimate
prize-catch for ‘WeightWatchers’!
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| Yes, Tamara is a beauty alright. Stick her in a corner with plenty of space where she can indulge her passion for sun-bathing. Feed and water her if you like but stand clear if she’s in a bad mood, and just watch her grow. You can even clip her nails if you like without causing her offence by snipping
off the needle tips of her leaves in the interests of health and safety. Yours, not hers! And if you’re lucky she’ll even give you the odd little shoots to propagate as part of her propensity to dominate your garden. Oh, and one last thing. Don’t refer to her as a cacti, she won’t like it…she isn’t! |
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