What a fun, great post! Thanks for sharing the picture of your home (it's gorgeous, I really love it), and the plan, plus nice pics of the plants in case anyone isn't familiar with them. I know this sort of stuff is very personal, so thanks for sharing it with us all. I was going to say the same thing as AZtree, that while it can be done, most sago "palms" struggle in sun here. They can work, but if it was my plan I'd not plan to have some in full sun. You could do some nice Hesperaloe parviflora plants in those locations ("red yucca" though not really a yucca) and they would have a nice upright almost grassy look and blooms that would compliment your 'Torch Glow' bougies. Just a thought. The design is very nice and we all have different tastes about style, formality, and plant materials. I'm a firm believer that the bulk of our gardens should be plants that LOVE it here, and your plants certainly fit the bill, so that's great. We can always backfill with experimental plants, or plants that need coddling, etc later. Two minor things stand out. It's hard to tell from the pic and design, but that seems sort of close to the house for Chilean mesquite trees. They grow big, and fast, and maybe that's exactly what you want, but a quick look seems like where you've got them planned is a bit too close to the house (for my comfort anyway). I do have one too close to my house, but it came that way and I'm always thinking about having it removed, LOL. Just something to think about or discuss with your landscape designer. You could always try something smaller, like Texas Ebony or Texas Mountain Laurel. The other thing, again, very minor but as a friend I'd mention, is that I personally am not a huge fan of the thornless hybrid Palo verdes ('Desert Museum' especially). They're very popular and fast growing, but I see SO MANY that get serious wind damage because their wood is so weak (from growing fast). I'd see if you could get one of the non-hybrid types of Palo verdes instead. They'll grow slower, but they'll be a lot stronger. I've seen some 'Desert Museum' trees looking good, but really only those that get thinned out OFTEN. A lot of them get real damage and split/broken stems from moderate winds. Again, just a thought. I do see some that look good, but if it was my plan (and it isn't, LOL) I'd see if I could swap out a native Palo verde for the hybrid ones. All in all though it's a very nice plan for a gorgeous house! If you did it exactly as planned, it would look great and you might be lucky with the sagos being able to tolerate the sun (and I could be wrong about the tight quarters for the mesquite, it's hard to tell from the pics), and you may keep the hybrid Palo verdes trimmed so they last a long time. So, basically you're on the right track for sure. Definitely keep us posted and let us know what you decide to do and how it works out. I'm sure you'll get lots of other input too. We'd love some "during" and "after" pics too! Take care and happy gardening, enjoy that beautiful home! Grant Here is a link that might be useful: Pics (so far) from my garden April 2012

When you say cactus medium, what's in it? My "cactus mix" is different than the next person and so on. I understand that it's getting afternoon sun, but do you know if it's a South window or a West window? South is best for cacti and succulents being grown indoors, on the windowsill is absolute best (the further away from the window you get, the less light the plant receives). I realize sticking an Agave in the window wouldn't exactly work... that's why there is the option to stick it outdoors in the Summer (you could probably do it in the Spring after a certain temperature has been maintained). I don't know the minimum temperature for Agaves, I believe it depends on the species or even the cultivar.... do you know which Agave you have? Just trying to think of all the different ways that we can help your Agave meet it's "full potential." In other words, find the ways to make it most happy. Planto

It sure looks blue to me. :) This is a classic case of the confusion created by using common names for plants, particulary when that name is simply a color. Your problem is that the name 'blue agave' often means A. tequiliana, the Agave most often farmed to make modern tequila. But, there are a great many other blue Agaves used for making mescal/tequila. These include A. colorata, neomexicana, palmeri, and the parry complex. The ancient Meso-Americans favored much larger blue Agaves for pulque production like A. salminana, weberi, and palmeri. Pulque is the fermented sap of the agave, and is used for distilling mescal. Mescal produced in the region around the town of Tequila is branded as Tequila. There are 'blue agave' nectars, sweeteners, cereals, restaurants, bars, etc. There is no way of knowing which 'blue' agave was used to make them, or to name them. 'Blue agave' has become a brand, not a plant. But I digress. All of the A. parryi complex are blue. Your plant is almost certainly among the four or more sub-species of A. parryi. Calling something a 'blue' agave, and expecting that refers to a single species is silly. Never trust people at nurseries about succulent names unless they are succulent specialists. Even then, labels are often outdated, or just plain wrong. I can not fault your nursery for calling Agave parryi v. parryi a 'blue agave'. It is. Brad

OH , I did not answer your question.. The regrowth or bulbiles on the stem can be grown for new plants if you so want them or have a friend who would like to propagate them. I would keep them on the stem as long as they are getting life from it. Then I would separate them off the stem and pot them up in a gritty mix to get them rooting.. If the plants that are pupping in the pot are enough and no one wants the ones on the stem, toss the stem. Look carefully through the ones on the stem, you might see something with an interesting variation.