All right... a couple weeks into Spring and I'm ready to declare victory. Well... partial victory. Some hard lessons learned but 'JC Raulston' has lived up to its reputation although it does have a few blemishes from its Winter torment. I'm so pleased with that I decided to plant another one in the succulents garden. It is a pup from the larger plant. This pup also spent the winter outdoors but in a pot under the house eve where it didn't get rained on much. Not even a slight blemish.


Here is the 'JC Raulston' that braved the entire Winter outside. Solid as a rock with the exception of a rotten leaf tip. I still want more Agaves in my rock garden but with your advice and my recent experience I am keeping them in pots. The pots will be sunk into the ground in the garden for the warm months, and transported to the greenhouse when the ugly weather threatens in Fall, probably mid October. It's a compromise, but I'll take it.


The two potted plants are a Parryi Truncata pup from the mother plant that perished in the Winter, and a Montana. Both spent the winter in the unheated greenhouse that I'm sure got plenty cold but remained dry. Both seem happy and healthy.
I do wonder if the Montana will get too big for that pot, or if the pot will simply restrict its growth?

BTW, the Opuntia pictured above is a Humifusa and seems to have no problem with winter outdoors. It is kind of flopping on the ground but that is its habit.

Congrats on the good news! Here are some other hardy agaves you might try.
http://www.highcountrygardens....

Tim, always fun to see winter's survivors!

I'm going to try this one next: Agave parryi v. neomexicana x utahensis. Just about the right size and supposedly hardy to zone 5... so long as you keep it dry in the Winter.

I wonder if you could plant it in one of your beds Tim, and tent it over the winter months?

valleylynn said:I wonder if you could plant it in one of your beds Tim, and tent it over the winter months?

That is a very worthwhile question. I think it may depend on how big the tent is. If it's big enough to keep the soil dry near the plant, then I think it would be no problem. This would be no different than keeping a pot under rain protection which works fine.
What I wonder is... what if I build a tent big enough to keep all snow, ice and precipitation off of the Agave leaves above ground... but the roots are exposed to continuous rain moisture? Basically... just giving it a rain hat and letting the roots take all of the winter moisture... albeit well draining. This... I do not know. I would be interested in educated opinions. My guess is... disaster.
Anybody?

I think a big part of the problem is the water that collects in the leaves.

Both parent plants of your hybrid are extremely sensitive to wet feet, while both are excellent in terms of cold hardiness, I would worry that unless you keep the plant in super fast draining soil that goes dry very quickly - which is very hard given the humidity you are often dealing with - it will rot very quickly. So a dry pot would be the most obvious way to go.

Agave utahensis grows on extremely shallow soil most often on limestone rocks - so water drains super fast and there is very little soil to stay wet, so even though these plants often get covered in snow, when it melts they do not stay wet long at all. Agave neomex is probably slightly better, but still another plant that is not a happy camper with a lot of wetness. They are just not used to the kind of long term high humidity you get, and to that long term wet soil and that makes for a really bad mix of dealing with the cold.

Have you considered Agave lechuguilla or A. lophantha? I know people have had success growing lophantha in North Carolina. They also grow A. victoriae-reginae there with good success - out in raised beds with well draining soil. Another one you could try would be A. salmiana ssp. crassispina which is another high elevation Agave that does have a good cold hardiness....

Thanks, Thijs! That seems quite logical. Even for cold-hardy plants it seems that cold, wet soil leads to dead Agaves. Dry feet in Winter are required for healthy Agaves. This requires either potting and moving to dry locations, or quite large and wide rain protection. I'll opt for the pots.

Tim, for the last 10 years I've had 3 different agaves planted outdoors in the ground in NM where I'm 7b. They get snow and rain, but are in fast draining granite soil and they are near the house, but there is no overhang, and I never protect them. I have Agave parryi subsp. neomexicana, Agave toumeyana var. bella, and Agave victoriae-reginae. They've all done very well, and produced lots of offsets. The deer and rabbits have left them alone, which is wonderful, since they eat many other cacti and succulents I have here!

Karen, I'm guessing that your instant-drain granite soil near the house is key to your Agave success.

OK... now that some actual warmth has arrived to this region, I have placed Agave Montana and Agave Parryi Truncata into containers sunk into the rock garden. There they will stay until October when cold rain threatens.


'JC Raulston' is powering on and even pupping already. It required zero protection through the horrible winter of 2016-2017.


I decided I had to have an Agave Americana Variegata. This one will go onto the covered back porch in October and into the garage if temperatures threaten to hit 20F.

They look great Tim! Did you get the Americana one at Rare Plants?

webesemps said:They look great Tim! Did you get the Americana one at Rare Plants?

I did, yesterday. And that pot should look familiar to you.

Oops... It's indeed a very nice pot, just a little bit on heavy side, but sturdy. I'm glad it's been given a great looking resident! Enjoy!

Great pics, Tim! I'm sure the fast draining granite is why the agaves do so well here in NM. I love your new little Agave Americana Variegata. They are lovely when young. I hope you have lots of space for it! My parents had one that must have been at least 6 ft high and maybe 10 ft wide.

Oh my, that is really BIGGGGGGG!!

Looking good Tim! The time of the year Agaves truly enjoys!

Some of the agaves can get huge, and usually do outgrow their sites. Others stay nice and small. I do love the little cute ones!

I'm just happy to have them in reasonably good condition. If that means hulking pots around, that's a small price to pay. And some that appear to be able to live on their own out in the rock garden. Who knew? A couple years ago I didn't even know the word "agave" and thought that they would all perish if they got down to 35F.

At least you learned a lot during last winter. Always fun to learn and adapt later to grow them much better.

I like summer time for most of my succulents, easier to water them, and some do go dormant too in summer, the other way around. Agaves laugh at the full sun and heat. They can take it so well.