Item Tag: Agave

This listing is for 30 seeds from our Agave lopantha. The original plant came from Oklahoma so they are quite hardy. Here in Western NC 4f is as cold as we’ve experienced since planting them. Agave lopantha is evergreen with a faint yellow stripe down the center of each leaf. They do spread by underground rhizomes to form a small colony. Ours get about 18 to 20 inches tall and will spread as much as allowed. Like all agaves, once the plant flowers it dies but the rest of the colony will continue growing. The flowers spikes grow about 8 to 10 feet tall on this variety and attract humming birds and many pollinators. In the Southeast each plant grows for about 10 to 15 years before flowering. In more arid regions it can take much longer depending on the species, that’s why Agave are called Century plants. We planted ours on a south facing slope in full sun. If you have clay soil or poor drainage then you will either need to place plants on a slope, a raised bed or mound up the soil for very good drainage. Winter drainage is important for good winter hardiness, these are at least zone 7b hardy with good drainage. A wet winter without much cold can kill them without proper drainage. For sowing these seeds just place them in a potting mix (a fine cactus mix or we add additional perlite to a good quality fine texture mix) very lightly cover them and keep them moist (a sprinkle of soil or vermiculite will work as a soil cover). Water as needed so they’re not staying soaking wet just damp. It’s also important to keep them warm, we germinate ours in a small greenhouse but a heat pad will do for indoors. Stratification is not required for germination.