Searching for Hardyagave

Agave montana at an altitude of 3,000m in the pine forests of northeast Mexico. The leaf rosettes flush red as they prepare to flower and die Searching for hardy Agave XOTIC OR SUBTROPICAL Informed by three maybe the rule, not the exception. gardening style is currently So, what then of our tree ferns E enjoying something of a visits to the mountain and bananas? renaissance. Certainly, with climate- change models predicting milder woodlands of Mexico Confronting drought winters and hotter summers this and cultivation Necessity has already forced me to previously marginalised aspect of confront this problem. A devotee of gardening has suddenly grown up experience this style of gardening for over 20 and become appropriately respectable. in eastern England, years, I was first seduced, like many But scientists warn us that rainfall initiates, by large jungly leaves. I live patterns are set to change with little PAUL SPRACKLIN in coastal Essex where, in an average falling during the very period our reports on agaves with year, we can expect just 50cm of gardens need it the most. Hosepipe rainfall. Big leaves equals big water restrictions become a real possibility; hardiness potential bills, not to mention the time and 146 September 2007 PlantsmanThe effort involved in supplying it to the here, or, indeed, in other areas of Mexico. I cobbled together the plants. I started seeking out plants England? A little research soon throws itinerary for a trip and in November that are suited to arid growing up some interesting data. Plants from 2004, together with friend and conditions yet fulfil my need to grow the central US deserts in particular nurseryman Toby Shobbrook, dramatic plants. And I found show immense cold tolerance: figures headed for the mountains of succulents. Imposing succulents northeast Mexico. The first, as it that, grown together, still paint an turned out, of three such trips. exotic picture yet outlive any hose A few kilometres southwest of ban. Succulents such as yuccas, Ciudad Victoria in the state of dasylirions, nolinas…. and agaves. Tamaulipas, just off highway 101, is located the small town of La Peña, Familiar species our rendezvous point with Richard So far, so good. But ask succulent and from where we took a good dirt plant collectors which agaves are road into the mountains. Rapidly most suited to growing outside and, swallowing altitude, we left behind in reply, you are most likely hear the yuccas and dasylirions of the ‘That’s easy. None’. What little semi-desert plains to above 2,300m precedent exists for growing agaves where the habitat changed fairly outdoors is mainly found in the abruptly to a forest of pines, dwarf milder areas of southwest England. oaks and arbutus. Wander around some of the Cornish It was here that we encountered Paul Spracklin Paul seaside towns and you will see the the first of two woodland Agave familiar Agave americana often species. Agave gentryi is a variable bursting its way out of a fisherman’s Spracklin Paul species found throughout northeast tiny front garden like a cuckoo in a Agave montana encounters cool summers and Mexico, both in moist woodland, as wren’s nest. frost and snow in its temperate native habitat. here, or on arid exposed mount- Look more closely and some of In cultivation in the UK it has withstood -10°C ainsides. Typically it forms sparse those greener A. americana are of -30°C are quoted for species such rosettes, around 1m in diameter, of actually A. salmiana – the sinuous flex as A. utahensis. Easily hardy enough dark green, often triangular-shaped of the leaf tip, the satin sheen of the for my occasional -10°C winters, you leaves, sometimes ferociously armed leaves, and the slightly purple tones would think. Sadly, the situation is with large marginal teeth. Some have on the leaf margins help distinguish not that straightforward. Although only small teeth, some are consider- it. Some – the fatter, wider-leaved hardy to extreme cold, A. utahensis is ably larger, all are recognisably the plants – are A. salmiana var. ferox (syn. very tricky to please outside as it is same species. These plants are A. ferox). This variety could be seen prone to rotting during the winter. abundant to around 2,700m from flowering on the Falmouth seafront, Superficially, we seem to have a where, suddenly, it is replaced by Cornwall, in 2007. paradox: moisture-tolerant agaves another agave. And just about the only other one are hardy only in the mildest gardens, And what an agave! Imagine a seen outside enthusiasts’ gardens is and species hardy enough to grow sempervivum 1.5m across and you A. mitis, a modestly-sized, pale green through England are unable to cope begin to picture Agave montana. It plant with very small marginal teeth with winter moisture levels. There has scores of leaves packed densely and a ‘foxtail’ style inflorescence, must be some kind of middle ground, into a rosette almost full to bursting. rather than the usual ‘christmas tree’. surely? There is, and it is at this point Although frequently spilling out These agaves have one thing in we head for the Mexican woods. onto open, sunny hillsides and road common – they are fairly moisture cuttings, it is mainly found deep into tolerant and, although not the hardiest Mexican adventures the woods as understorey. And these of the group, are among the most My reading directed me to Mexico, woods are temperate: this mountain suited to growing in the wetter, mild- home of the Agave, and to my mentor reaches 3,020m with these agaves er regions. But here I am over the in all things Mexican: the Texan only being found in the top 300m. It other side of the country – colder plantsman Richard Travis, a man is cool in summer and cold in winter and drier. What plants can we grow well travelled throughout northern – reaching -10°C in most years, ➤ September 2007 147 HARDINESS ASSESSMENT often lower. Agave montana are on the moist side of the mountain and are routinely covered in mist, drizzly rain, frost and even snow. The oldest plants in these populations, probably 30–40 years old, show no sign of previous cold damage to their pristine rosettes. Both species are now filtering into cultivation and represent, without doubt, the best agaves that can be grown in England, and elsewhere in the temperate world. Two year old seedlings of A. montana have just seen through a winter temperature Spracklin Paul Agave gentryi occurs at a slightly lower altitude than A. montana but occupies a similar habitat of -10°C in middle England in 2006/7, so it looks very encouraging. identified and propagated by one or how exciting this plant is – not only two keen nurserymen but at the one of the most beautiful agaves Species to grow outside moment the situation is less than but with huge garden potential. Trying new plants is nothing new to satisfactory. Nevertheless, here are Large plants should prove hardy Cornish pioneers who have been my recommendations for trying to maybe -15°C. gardening on the edge since it became outside, in order of suitability – a leisure pursuit. But others in less particularly hardiness. I have ignored Agave gentryi benign climates have recently joined A. americana completely – for me This species was also discussed above. in. For example, Bob Brown, at his there are far more interesting and In the USA a particularly fine clone, nursery Cotswold Garden Flowers in more appropriate species to grow. A. gentryi ‘Jaws’, has been tissue- Worcestershire, has a bed of succulent cultured, and is available in the UK plants that is left completely to the Agave montana occasionally. The species and this elements. Nick Macer, of Pan This species was discussed above cultivar should be hardy to -10°C, Global Plants, has a display garden in but I feel it is impossible to overstate probably lower. his Gloucestershire nursery with many succulent plantings being trialled. There is also a growing array of enthusiasts from all over the land seeking something new, exciting and rewarding. Gradually, an idea of what species will grow here is emerging. One thing that seems clear, though sadly unhelpful, is that hardiness for many species seems to be clonal. To say that A. salmiana, for example, is hardy would be somewhat mislead- ing. Some plants of some forms of A. salmiana are incredibly hardy to cold and damp combined, but others disintegrate into a pile of mush with the first frost. Given its enormous range in the Mexico – it is cultivated throughout the central highlands – I suppose this should be expected. Spracklin Paul These hardy clones are being In the wild, Agave mitis favours rock faces where it roots into crevices that act as seepage lines 148 September 2007 PlantsmanThe Agave mitis (syn. A. celsii) However, variation in the species, Like most agaves, this is variable but throughout its range in the central always attractive. Typically in cultiv- Mexican highlands, appears to be ation it has open, apple-green rosettes, continuous. The most impressive to 60cm in diameter, formed of plants of var. ferox I have seen are in lightly-toothed, slightly incurving Falmouth, Cornwall, and on Tresco in leaves. In the wild it is found plaster- the Abbey Gardens. The more ed vertically onto rock faces follow- tender clones of this species are ing slight seepage lines and hence hardy to -3°C but the tougher ones deals with moisture quite adequately. can cope with -15°C. It is also often seen growing in shade though I would default to a sunnier Agave bracteosa spot when trying it outside in the This species is unusual as far as UK.

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