Woody Lilies

Agave variegate! This little plant has to be one of the coolest agave variegates for pot culture. The compact size, fantastic color, and beautiful form make this plant a knockout in the succulent collection. One can't... More

Crystal bowl agave! We originally made this selection of Agave montana in 1997 on one of our trips to Mexico. We have grown it for many years and have been impressed with it all along. But it offsets slowly, making it im... More

Tough as Leather! This is most likely a form of Agave americana protoamericana or one of the A. protoamerican intergrades with A. asperima (syn. A. scabra) that has been cultivated ... More

Lemon Lime Agave!

This Agave americana variegate is not your typical white or yellow or cream combined with green. The variegation is a bizarre combination of greens. Down the center of each leaf runs a bro... More

Silver Surfer Agave! Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery made this fine Agave selection out of a batch of seedlings he grew from seed we sent him years ago. This plant grows in form much like many A. americana var. ameri... More

Hardy with great form! This variety does not attain the mammoth proportions of the cultivated Agave americana that punctuates the Mediterranean climes. Instead, it has an upright compact form that has proven to be very desi... More

White stripes! Its succulent narrow leaves are boldly striped in white variegation along the leaf margins. A compact leafy plant that never fails to attract everyone's admiration. Grown around the world as an orname... More

Fox-tail Agave! Soft, luscious, voluptuous are all adjectives that come to mind when describing this handsome succulent. This un-agave-like plant has soft, glaucous, spineless leaves that unfold creating a beautiful ... More

Recalling calamar! Pat McNeal chose this non-clumping form to be the first of the Agave bracteosa's to be tissue cultured. The cultivar name 'Calamar' implies a form more marine-like than plant-like. In its native habit... More

Variegated Agave celsii When I first saw this variegate at a nursery in Thailand, I was not certain what species it was. It was so stunning, that I temporarily drew an identification blank. When someone told me it was A. cel... More

Chiapas Agave! This relative of Agave celsii from the state of Chiapas, MX is superficially similar in appearance to it, but the leaves tend to be broader and stouter. The teeth on the margins of the leaves are also... More

Another Soap Agave! According to Gentry’s “Agaves of Continental North America”, Agave chrysoglossa is closely related to Agave vilmoriniana but the leaves are flatter and straighter and the inflorescence is non-bu... More

- An attractive plant with long, narrow leaves and long filifers that form a single rosette. Found just above the Pacific coastline in places with high-tide salt spray. As the name suggests, it is nativ... More

Sotol maguey! This plant probably represents the oldest living relic of the agave clan - clinging to outcroppings of volanic rock in a climate that is mild and moist year around you begin to see that this not your ... More

Golden highlights! A highly ornamental form that is variegated in creamy yellow bands along the leaf margins. The variegation is especially effective on this plant because of its cultural need for a shady area--accentin... More

This plant is a member of the Marginatae Group of Agaves, which also includes species like A. lophantha, A lechuguilla, A. funkiana and A. xylonacantha. I mention its familial relatives so that people... More

Durango Agave!
This moderate to large growing Agave is found at moderate elevations (5500' to 8500') on open rocky slopes in the high grasslands of Durango and Zacatecas, MX. It has broad, silver leaves, which have ... More

King of the agaves! As a race of agaves these are almost inseparable to botanists from Agave victoriae-reginae, but to us gardeners they are quite distinct. We list them as a separate species. They have fewer but larger,... More

Attractive pot specimen! Agave filifera and Agave schidigera are two very similar looking species that have always been difficult for an average collector to tell apart. The feature that has normally been used to separate the... More

In the late 1990's when John Fairey and I were making regular treks into Mexico, I spotted this heavily armed selection in a huge colony of Agave gentryi. It made a treacherous groundcover under the o... More

Three gallon Jaws! In the late 1990's when John Fairey and I were making regular treks into Mexico, I spotted this heavily armed selection in a huge colony of Agave gentryi. It made a treacherous groundcover under the o... More

Guadalajara Agave! A small, tight rosette of blue-gray leaves with pronounced nipples along the leaf edge with small spines embedded in them that become more numerous and larger toward the leaf tip. Endemic to a small a... More

Blue Wave Agave! This agave clone came to us years ago as Agave americana 'Blue Wave'. It somewhat has the look of Century Plant, like A. americana, but without the hardiness of A. americana and it is a much smaller p... More

Not so obscure! What a sight to behold, a rock outcropping stippled with compact, artichoke-like succulent agaves the size of basketballs; the skyline is punctuated with the exclamation point-like flower spikes. A br... More