For those curious about how fast an agave grows, here's a little time series showing a seedling of our native Agave shawii that I installed in early 2010 in our very rocky, very sandy soil in day-long sun. There's an immediate change right after they go in the ground (seems like the plant is opening up both leaves and spines) but it takes a couple of years for them to show their real character.

Early 2010


Mid 2010


Mid 2011


Late 2011


Late 2013


Late 2014


Mid 2015


Mid 2016, from the side, showing the offset


Today

Impressive plant, effort, & mad organizational skillz with your pics! TY for the post!

Glad you enjoy. The nice thing about native plants is there's very little effort actually. And in lieu of organization, I employed brute force and scanned 7 years of garden photos using the eyeball method. There's a second agave next to that one which for whatever reason did not attract as many pictures over time, maybe because it's always been a little smaller.

This photo set was partly a way of inspiring myself to proceed with another batch of seedling native agaves, planted in a row in the park next to 5 aloes. There is one more agave where the camera is.



I will of course be returning with the camera regularly on foggy days now that I have the photo framed right.

For what it's worth, here's 7 years in the life of the other agave (mind the 5 year gap)

Early 2010


Late 2010


Mid 2011


Early 2012


Today

Beautiful plant, Baja.

How large does it get? I see it has grown taller, will it get much taller or spread out wider?

To see a plant you've grown from seed and thrive, must be very rewarding to you. And very interesting to us with the photos to show the growth.

Thank you for sharing.

Reine

I think that's about it, width-wise. This is the northern form of the species, which tends to be small. Some can grow a bit of a stem, but I think it may be flowering time pretty soon. The inflorescence is also relatively small (like 6 feet tall maybe).

The line of 4 in the park are spaced by best-guesstimation to fill out a sort of spiny hedge once they grow up and start offsetting, running alongside the arroyo there to keep cross traffic down. You have to guess because they vary. One batch of seed gave me a set of dwarf plants that all started offsetting very young so you never know. Though obviously it helps to pay attention to the mother plant when you grab a fruit.

I agree there's some magic in growing plants from seed, to the extent they provide the unexpected. You can separate a million blue Agave americana offsets and they are all going to look exactly the same. But each one of these native agaves has its own spines and border and size and color, like so much more personality overall, in an individual and collective way.

Those are super! Extra impressive since you grew that from seed. That A. shawii is amazing for only being 7 years old. Really the transformation. Noticed a big change between 2010 and 2013. Plant no longer looks pup like but very much a 'grown up' now.

I do know this is a rather slow growing plant in nature. They also have an absolutely awesome flower stalk. Very unusual purplish buds and yellow flowers. Do you have any pictures of an A. shawii in bloom?

Like a million.

This one is my favorite because I took it from the seat inside an outhouse on the coast south of here.



And here are a few in the database.





Pretty photogenic flowers and location.

Well, I guess you can say you had a room with a view and most definitely the best seat in the house.

Those are gorgeous photos. Really does the plant justice. surprises me an agave would live so close to water and be perfectly happy with not only the moisture but the salty air. BTW, the local. Is that by Erendira in Baja CA Norte?

Supposedly this is a good zone 9-11 plant but I'm not sure if it would like my low hot dry interior. We are super arid and our humidity is low. It is such a pretty plant. Looks fussy. Is it hard to grow or demanding?

As for tracking, I've been having very good luck with my A. weberii ( ) so far. Last summer was touchy but it really has taken off this spring.


This was May of 2016


This was just this month. Leaves are broader, plant is wider and it has two pups now.

AgaveGirl1 said:Well, I guess you can say you had a room with a view and most definitely the best seat in the house.

You're hilarious, girl.

BTW, the local. Is that by Erendira in Baja CA Norte?

It's about an hour north of there I think, but I've used a couple other outhouses near Erendira with a similar view. If you're going to live without plumbing you might as well enjoy the view.

Looks fussy. Is it hard to grow or demanding?

You're asking the wrong person because I'm not doing anything special at all for these plants, them being natives and our climate being the mildest on the planet. They thrive under my neglect, more than any special care. They are one of very few agaves which grow in a winter-rainfall climate, so they are going to look their best in fall through spring, slow down in summer.

From what I read you should be able to grow the large version of the species, probably with some protection in summer. These plants get zero water in summer here and where they grow naturally, but they probably would enjoy a little summer water (in moderation) in the desert.

I like the cross banding in the blue color on your agave.

Love your photos Baja! I really enjoy the transformation of the plant as it grows!

Speaking of Agaves, when my mom-in-law first visited us, we went to Ruth Bancroft Gardens in 2010, our first visit to that garden, we were really impressed how gargantuan these plants can grow.

Yes they can grow humongous. When we were traveling in central Mexico we saw a whole lot of pulque agaves (A. salmiana) and I was impressed by how hefty some of those can get. They're only useful for making pulque when they are fully mature, so there's a lot scattered here and there waiting for their time.

Taking pictures from the outhouse beats putting graffiti on the walls but I'm not sure if I'd like to leave the door open as long as it took to get that photograph. Paradise is not only a beautiful beach but a beautiful beach with agaves near it! Lucky you to be so close to such a thing!

I understand no plumbing at the beach. I kind of get that. I'll put up with that at the beach or in a park or such but in daily life I'm a bit too spoiled. I can live without t.v. and a computer and yes...even a cell phone. BUT I refuse to live without indoor plumbing or a place to plug in my blow drier and no I do not sleep in dirt when there are perfectly good hotels with room service! I draw the line there.

As for growing the A. shawii, it would be so cool to try. Your Mexican-Mediterranean microclimate is a far cry from what I've got going on here. I don't know how that plant would do when we have 3 months of 110+ temps and no rain. I'd be afraid the thing would shriek in horror and disgust at me and die in a pile of smoldering ashes. (See the burnt leaf on my A. weberii?) I wouldn't have the heart to do that to it.

Has anyone/doe anyone grow A. shawii in zone 9B low Sonoran desert? If so, how's it going?

Glad you like my A. weberii. I've been trying hard to keep that plant thriving through not just summer but the cold winter here in AZ. We had quite a few nights where it got below freezing and many where it flirted with it. We also had a lot of rain. So the fact this plant has been with me 2+ years now is a good thing. It is tough. I've managed to get it to live here and I haven't killed it. ( ) I'm just so happy it is growing well and filling out and truly looking like an agave in earnest.

Tarev.........
Awesome Love the photos of the monster plants. Isn't it so cool when plants get as big as people! MIL looks like she was having a ball. Good for her. BTW, what is the Agave in the pic with MIL?

AG, sorry I do not have the name of that humongous Agave. Those Agaves were obtained decades ago from Southern Cali as told to us by the docent.

Yes, MIL did enjoy them, and I am glad I took the photo of the plant with her at that time, a fond memory now since we lost MIL last year sadly.

Last Saturday at Ruth Bancroft Gardens when we got to visit it again, they told us during the tour that they are slowly relocating the Agaves, it will surely be a feat to move those, with those sharp edges.