Agave americana

Bloom Color: White, Yellow. Form: Rounded.

Agave americana is an evergreen Perennial growing to 7.5 m by 2.5 m at a slow rate.
It is hardy to zone 9 and is not frost tender. It is in leaf all year. The species is hermaphrodite and is pollinated by Lepidoptera , bats.
Suitable for: light and medium soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Management: Standard Regional Crop Staple Crop: Basic Starch Staple Crop: Sugar
Landscape Uses:Container, Massing, Rock garden, Seashore, Specimen. Requires a very well-drained soil and a sunny position. The agave is not very hardy in Britain tolerating temperatures down to about -3°c if conditions are not wet. It succeeds outdoors on the south coast of England from Torbay westwards. Plants survived lower temperatures during the very cold winters from 1985/1987 and were unharmed at Glendurgan gardens in West Cornwall. A monocarpic species, the plant lives for a number of years without flowering but dies once it does flower. However, it normally produces plenty of suckers during its life and these continue growing, taking about 10 - 15 years in a warm climate, considerably longer in colder ones, before flowering. This plant is widely used by the native people in its wild habitat, it has a wide range of uses. In a warm climate suckers take 10 - 15 years to come into flower. Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer. Special Features:Attracts birds, Attractive foliage, North American native, Naturalizing, All or parts of this plant are poisonous, Flowers are rare, Blooms are very showy.