Help identify agave which is hardy in WV

12 years ago

Hi all,

Here is a pic of a young agave which I tried to winter outside just for fun, so I left a small pup in the ground and potted the rest winter before last. It's much larger now and still has VERY rounded leaves... a lot of blue cast to it also. NOTE the snow and the parryi pup behind it.

Since the pup lived , I put a larger one in the ground last summer and it overwintered just fine also, so I need to take new pics of them and add so you can see them close up more.

It looks NOTHING like any of my A. parryis, nor my havardianas. Any ideas what it could be. The person who sent it thought it was utahensis, but from everything I've read, its not all that hardy for people.

Unlike the parryis and havards, which have a needle on the end which smoothly and narrowly transitions down to a point, this one rounds out more lobed, with the needle looking more seperate on the end.

And though I know that young plants are hard to tell much about, when pups come up in the hardy bed, I can tell if its from the parryi or the havard, just by the shape if the first two leaves.

It's driving me nuts not knowing or having an idea what this is.

Look forward to the discussion,

Chris

{{gwi:544586}}

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Comments (9)

cactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5
12 years ago
Chris,

I don't know the species, but it sure looks happy. Is it usually covered with snow in the winter (I'm assuming y'all get spells of 10-20F weather but really have no idea)?

Another vote for the Sedum - I have that growing somewhere too and find it a great-yet-diminutive hardy plant.
chrisware
Original Author
12 years ago
Yep.... nasty winters. We're in the higher regions so our winters are kinda rough.... close to the ski resorts. BUT, I bet you're no strangers to winter either. ;)

the sedum in the pic is angelica.... I believe. It is a spreading demon, but I love it. Looks really good in the sempervivum bed in amungst dark and red semps. It's kinda hard to pull it out of the cacti beds because of all the needles, but a stick with a small hook on it helps.
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norma_2006
12 years ago
The needles protect your plants, Semps. and Sedum grow in the forest of
Europe and protect the plnats from the snow with the pine needles. and if they land on top of your Agave I wouldn't remove them in the winter. Put the needles on any other plants that you are trying to protect. The rocks seem to hold in the heat, the water is the danger. Norma
chrisware
Original Author
12 years ago
Huh? What you talking about Norma? Haha

No pine needles for me here, at least not near this bed. I'm in West Virginia, so if anything lands on my stuff I have to remove it or it will rot! Not only do we get lots of snow, but we get tons of rain, so the leaves or pine needles turn into heavy wet messy blankets which smother everything, even killing out the grass.

For protection on my agaves, I use huge clear plastic containers which are perforated on the sides. You can see the edge of one in this pic, since I lifted it to take the picture.

Hoping somebody has an idea of this little agave.

Chris
chadec7a
12 years ago
I have several different parryi, neomexicana, Ofatifolia's, Utah's and Harvard's I will compare and post back.
cactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5
12 years ago
Norma,

You're thinking pine needles, Chris wasn't.

Chris,

You can contact Greg Starr (of the Starr Nursery Agave Hall of Fame) probably and get an answer if no one here can answer you. It sure is a nicely chunky one. Is that a raised bed?

So what's the lowest temps for you there? We'll sometimes go to -25 to -30C, but it doesn't last very long. Maybe there are Agaves that can handle that temp, but I don't know of them. Perhaps if you grew them from seed here they'd be more resistant to the temps.
chadec7a
12 years ago
As far as I can tell it's parryi, I believe it to be J.C. Raulston. I will provide a photo of mine. keep in mind that the photo was taken with my phone and it was a little gloomy this morning, but the color is the same as yours. About differences in agaves I have 3 parryi flagstaff form from High country gardens and each has slightly different characteristics. My utah is a hybrid and completely different. Doesn't look like my truncata pups, and has the wrong color for havard and neomexicanas.
My J.C. Raulston agave
{{gwi:544587}}

Let me know what you think we'll keep looking. By the way in your last post you had a photo of a purple optunia, do you have an ID for it( the on the left of the photo).
chrisware
Original Author
12 years ago
Chad,
Yours does look the most like it.

The Opuntia... I want to say that one is Dark Night, but I will double check it tonight to make sure. I was so worried about losing their id's that I made engraved aluminum tags and mapped them in my journal as well. It's really setting on the pads and blooms this year. I'll post an updated pic of it.

Cactus...
Here some of our coldest have been -10F, but what I have to deal with most is all the snow and rain. We'll have a couple feet of snow one day, than rain for two days after that. Lot's of water!

Chris
chadec7a
12 years ago
I was going to order dark night but where I found it you had to print the order form and send it in. And they stopped shipping June first so I ordered a optunia Galapagos instead. Hope the winter colors are similar.