FREE: Century PLant

The listing, Century PLant has ended.

The largest and most majestic of the native Texas agaves, Agave americana often grows as tall as 6 feet. Its leaves are gray-blue to blue-green with spines at the tips and on the margins; the older leaves often gracefully arch down. Century plant lives for 10 to 25 years (the "century" is an exaggeration) before it uses all its reserves to produce a magnificent flower stalk that can be 15 feet tall. After that the original plant dies, but is replaced by small offshoots around the base. In Texas it grows in dry, gravelly soils in the south, but is naturalized and grown farther north and west. Like most agaves, A. americana needs full sun and well drained soil to thrive. It is extremely drought tolerant and moderately slow-growing. Supplemental water in dry summer months will make it grow faster, but care must be taken not to overwater, especially in clay soils, because too much moisture will cause the roots to rot. It is hardy to about 20 degrees F., and like most agaves, is tolerant of reflected heat. Several variegated forms of Agave americana are in cultivation.
Plant Habit or Use: medium shrub
Exposure: sun
Flower Color: greenish white
Blooming Period: summer
Fruit Characteristics: capsule
Height: 1 to 6 feet / to 15 feet with flower
Width: 1 to 5 feet
Plant Character: evergreen
Heat Tolerance: very high
Water Requirements:
Soil Requirements: adaptable
USDA Hardiness Zone: 8