What's In and What's Out for Fall; An Agave Report

Periodically,  Loree at Danger Garden posts an Agave Report to update her readers on the current state of her agaves, quite a few of which are growing in the ground.  Loree loves these plants and speaks about them with an evangelistic fervor so infectious that even a set-in-his-ways curmudgeon like myself has fallen under their spell.  In my mind, that mitigates the guilt I feel for stealing her agave report idea for this post.   

 

A few of my agaves are sort of between in and out in the glass room that is only heated to keep temperatures above freezing, we'll call it zone 9.  

A few pots of noid pups that came from repotting their parents are also in zone 9 until the spring garden bloggers' exchange.  Just realized that there are quite a few sweet smaller agaves living in pots on the sills of zone 9 but they're out of sight for the season.

This sweetheart was given to me Danger herself upon the occasion of our first meeting  two years ago and has wintered here in zone 9 each year.    I think of the moss growing on the pot as the patina of authenticity rather than a sign of a lazy gardener.

Here we have some rather hardy souls most of which fared well last winter in this spot which is outside but gets no moisture at all.  We'll call it  dry zone 8.    I'm not totally sure about A. gentryi 'Jaws' and may move it to zone 9.  What do you think? Am also trying the Aloe polyphylla  there but may need to bring it in to dry a little as it was left out during the horrible downpours we had earlier and when I took it out of it's pot, the soil was dripping.  I potted it up into a mix of mostly pearlite and a little soil.  Fingers crossed.

Here we have some more  in zone 10, a heated room inside the house.  No one else was using this old  desk in the music room anyway?

And because the collection of tender plants keeps growing somehow,  I've taken over another room for the plants.  I suppose  one of the benefits of living in a large fixer is that the plants can take over rooms we don't use.

Agave americana variegata 'aurea'   fared well inside last winter and I'm thrilled to see all the pups coming up as this is one of my favorite children.

Mr. Ripple, the newest addition  along with some other friends who were fine in zone 9 last year but are getting a little large for the small space.

 

Here we have what's out.  Outside that is.  You may remember A. ovatifolia 'Frosty Blue' from an earlier post who will be slogging through the winter outside.  Hoping for the best!

 A. parryi 'J.C. Raulston pup also from danger that was fine here last winter and put on quite a bit of growth this summer.

Another 'J.C. Raulston' that I got on sale last fall and which lived outside last winter as well.  There's quite a crowd in there!

Agave weberi that became slime under plastic outside last winter but came back but is now covered with pelargoniums. 

A. bracteosa is pretty tough but, since it's still in a pot, it may come in this year.

So there it is, my first agave report. Thirty-two happy agaves in October.   Will there be as many in May?  Stay tuned to find out!  Sorry I stole your idea Danger.  Imitation is the highest form of flattery right?

Has It Risen from the Dead?

You may remember thr Agave weberi story but if not here's a quick recap. 

I met him at the candy store.  He turned around and smiled at me, you get the picture (yes we see.) That's when I fell for the spiky agave.

It sat around for a while in its plastic nursery pot as can be seen in this picture that I borrowed from here.

And finally got put in a big pot where it put on some nice growth and looked gorgeous!

All seemed to go very well over the summer!

When rains were predicted to return A.W. got a nice plastic shower cap to keep the rain out.  I think it also allowed condensation and didn't allow for very good ventalation but all seemed fine, the soil was dry as a bone. Then came  a few nights of freezing temperatures. 

 

When the plastic was removed he seemed to be lost and A.W. was put in my D.Y.K. (dead you know) post.

 

I haven't had the heart to rip it out yet  (That's the current excuse for being a sloth.) and now it's doing this. (Notice the forget me nots in the background.  Coincidence?  You decide.

 

 So agave experts,  is this one of those last death throes or has A.W. come back to life for Easter?

 



Agaves, Blue Poppies, and other Garden Myths

Are you aware that in the Pacific Northwest part of the United States, we can grow a wider variety of plants than anywhere else on the planet save the tropical rainforests?  It's true!  In this area, we can grow the elusive himalayan blue poppy (meconopsis betonicifolia, grandis,lingholm) without much difficulty,  an extensive array of unusual evergreens, perennials, succulents, hardy bananas and palms, even tree ferns with protection.  Mediterranean plants and rainforest gems all thrive in our mild climate.  I remember gardeners in Alaska growing roses in large pots and sheltering them in cool basements or crawl spaces for the winter.  Here they grow like weeds.  We live in a climate that is basically paradise for gardening, not to hot, not too cold, and yet we still have changes in our seasons.  So what do gardeners in this area of plentiful winter rain want to grow?  A whole variety of tropical and semi tropical plants that must be brought inside for the winter plants that are borderline hardy,  and of course plants that crave an arid and hot climate, the anthesis of what we've got.  Why are gardeners so weird? 

Desert plants do have their charms and while I've  had an agave or two around for a while that simply spend their summers outside, this is the first year that I've tried a few outside.  I feel sort of cruel subjecting these plants to our climate.  We don't even get a lot of the heat that they crave in the summer!  After our recent couple of weeks of below freezing temperatures, I thought it would be a good idea to check on some of the iffy plants that were left outside.  I won't bore you with pictures of the agaves that were brought in as they're all doing fine.  Lost some aeoniums this year to some sort of mold though.

This agave pup was a gift from the Agave Queen and with the exception of that one spot, it seems fine and firm. 

Agave gentryi  'Jaws'  was left outside with no protection from the rain. It  has a couple of mushy leaves but the rest are firm. It is now under the cover of the porch and will get no more water for the rest of the winter.  If it doesn't survive, I'll replace it as it is such a cool plant.

The following few pictures are of agaves that were brought onto the open porch out of the rain in the fall.

Pups from transplanting larger specimens seem to be fine in the dry cold.

These are from the Free Agaves Saga  and are doing well  also on the back porch with no water

This one, like the other one of this variety that went to the Agave Rescue in Portland, wasn't happy about living any longer.

Outside with no protection from the rain - thinking it's a goner.

No protection from the rain - seems to be doing o.k. It came with the brown tips.

Opuntia  santa rita 'Tubac' is  worrying me with that brown pad in the middle.  the rest seems o.k. though.  We'll see what happens.

This fat little cutie from Cistus seems to be happy and healthy!

This Opuntia polycantha of which I was the lucky winner in a drawing  this summer is taking the rain in stride. 

Here comes a heart breaker.  Remember this gorgeous Agave weberi that is in a pot too big to move?  In the fall, it got a plastic cover to protect it from the rain.  After the freeze, I decided to remove the covering to see what was going on.

The soil is bone dry but I don't think the plant is supposed to look like this. 

While the plant may survive, I have my doubts about it recovering its former good looks.  Since this is a big focal point, it may need to be relocated. 

Maybe I'll seek out a hardier large agave to take it's place. 

On the bright side, both this Rhodocoma capensis and the smaller one that I got in a 4" pot last spring and potted up twice are looking green and healthy!

Another piece of happy news is that the freeze didn't even touch the leaves of Abutilon megapotamicum.  There are still buds and a couple of open flowers on all of my plants. (in pots elevated above the ground.)  If  the weather doesn't take a drastic turn and get really cold, this puppy will just keep increasing it's blooming through the spring and all summer long.  Hooray for a relatively mild winter. (So far, knock on wood!) 

Have you begun taking stock of what's still alive and what's not so much in your garden?  I know that it's way too early for many of you!

On the eighth day of Christmas, a Zoo Lights resolution

You may be a plant geek if you go to a beautiful holiday light show like Zoo Lights and get as big a thrill from the outlines of some of the plants you see as you do from the amazing light show.

I usually don't bother with resolutions for the new year because they usually don't last very long.  However, if I go back to Zoo Lights next year, I will take a tripod to get better pictures of the dramatically lit foliage.  That's a resolution , right?

 

Usually when thinking of zoos, great gardens don't spring to mind but the Point Defiance Zoo has delicious gardens on their grounds!  I once had the pleasure of meeting the head gardener from Point Defiance when he was shopping at Jungle Fever Exotics, just up the street.   Are those aloes, agaves, and yuccas?

 This reminded me a little of Shirley's beautiful blue agave.

I finally couldn't stand it any longer, turned on the flash and started pointing the camera in the direction of shapes that looked interesting.

 There were so many palms that I lost count!

 Lots of different kinds of bamboo.  This grove is pretty impressive!  Can you see the head of the person just right of center?

By the time I found this echium, my second resolution became clear:  I WILL revisit the zoo during the day when the holiday event is over.  While they have some adorable newborn tigers that everyone is talking about, and lots of other fascinating animals, I'll be more interested in the plants. 

 A teenaged (under 40 they all look like kids to me) woman said loudly to her friend for my benefit, "Doesn't he realize that flash photography won't get the lights very well?" Truth be told, I had the same thought when folks were trying to capture the lights utilizing a flash but I was taking pictures of the plants.   Thank you for this bit of wisdom!  I do hope that you will return to the zoo with me during the day so that you can tell your friend that if I point the camera at the plants I won't get very good shots of the elephants. 

Trachycarpus fortunei drupes looking quite lovely!

 I'm looking forward to revisiting this place in 2013.  Finally, a resolution I can keep!

 

Hope you have a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2013!