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What’s a Desert Plant that Requires Almost No Care?

April 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Want a desert landscape plant that looks good and doesn’t ask much from you?  This desert plant requires minimal care and just as little water.  But, watch where you plant it!  It can have deadly sharp leaves.  So, keep it away from drives,  walkways, and areas where kids or pets play.  What is this great desert plant…its the Agave of course!  I’m sure many of you knew I was going to say that.

Like cactus, agaves grow  naturally in the Sonoran desert and are well suited to our extreme summer heat.  They’ve adapted thick leaves to help hold in water for times when water is scarce.  Their main defense against animals eating it is sharp, pointed leaves often with razor hooked teeth along the leaves.

 

 

A small agave with a light green leaf that gets to be 2′x2′ is the Agave parryi or Agave parryiParry’s Agave.  This is a slow growing agave that has sharp tips and can be used as a specimen plant.

Another small agave that I love is the Twin-Flowered Agave (Agave geminiflora).  This one is dark green and does not have hooked leaves though the leaves are sharp.   This agave is native to west central Mexico.  It gets to about 3′x3′ and has very thin leaves.   I’ve Agave geminifloraplanted this agave in a pot and it does very well.

 A large agave that gets it’s name from the way it looks is the Octopus Agave (Agave vilmoriniana).  This large agave can get to 5′ tall and needs a space large enough to spread out.  The leaves are smooth and round down to a shape that looks like octopus arms.  It  has a light green leaf.  This agave does not grow offshoots or pups but can grow plantlets from the stalk itself.

Agave vilmoriniana

There are over 200 varieties of agave.  One  of the most well-known is the Blue Agave that is used to make tequila.  Agave nectar is used as a sugar substitute.  And, the fibers from the agave leaves can be dried and used as rope.

This versatile desert plant has many uses and makes a great desert landscape plant.  You can buy them in your local  nursery or grow them yourself from the pups or plantlets.  They come in a variety of shades of green and many can be found in a variegated leaf.    For more detailed information about agaves check out the Desert Tropicals website.  And, visit our Facebook Fan page to see what we’re up to!



Filed Under: agave, Arizona, desert gardening, desert plants, garden, landscape, landscaping, low water use plants, Planting, plants, Uncategorized, xeriscape, xeriscaping Tagged With: , , , , ,

Pruning Cactus Without Getting Stuck

September 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

 

Every try to prune your prickly pear cactus and end up pulling cactus thorns out of your hand for the next hour?  Ouch!

Many cactus can be trimmed.  All types of prickly pear cactus, some columnar cactus, and some agaves are included in this list.  Some desert plants that you don’t want to trim include ocotillo plants and barrel cactus.

Here’s the right way to do it and stay thorn free at the same time.

  • Wear long pants and a long-sleeved shirt, safety glasses, shoes and socks, leather gloves and a hat.  The more you’re protected the less chance you have of being stuck.
  • Have a hand saw, garden loppers, a shovel, trash barrel and a pitch fork handy.
  • When trimming prickly pear cactus, cut back to a new pad.  Don’t slice through the middle of a pad.  You will need to cut sections of pads until you get to the size you would like.  And, be careful, pack rats often live in the middle of large prickly pears.
  • For trimming columnar cactus try to cut to a knob or growth section.  Cut at the bottom of the cactus to remove an entire column to thin out.
  • Trimming up agaves involves starting at the bottom removing one leaf at a time and moving around the agave to bring it up.  Agaves are often trimmed to remove dead lower leaves or to raise it off a sidewalk when it is a hazard.
Prickly pear cactus pads can be planted directly in the ground and they will grow. Dig a hole and place the bottom of the pad or section of pads in the hole and cover.  So, if you’re looking to add cactus to an area and are trimming cactus in another area, your trimmings can be planted right after cutting them.  This is not true for agave leaves.   Though agave “pups” (the small agaves that grow near larger agaves, can be dug up and transplanted.
Always be aware of your surroundings.  If you’re working with large or tall cactus, it may become unstable and can topple over on top of you.  If you don’t want to prune your cactus yourself, contact us at (520) 370-5697 and we can do it for you!


Filed Under: agave, cactus, desert gardening, desert plants, landscape, plants, Uncategorized, xeriscape, xeriscaping Tagged With: , , , ,

>Agaves

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

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Do you live in a hot dry area?  Do you want to have interesting plants that don’t require much water?  Then you may want to plant some agaves!

These desert plants can endure long periods of 100+ degree weather without water.  They range in size from very small to extremely large varieties.  They propogate by setting off “pups” from the main plant that can be removed and transplanted easily.  And, they have a distinctive look that works well when you want an interesting plant to add to your landscaping. 
Some of my favorite agaves include Parry’s agave (Agave parryi) seen to the top left on the screen, Queen Victoria agave (Agave victoriae-reginae) on the bottom left, and the Thread-leaf agave (Agave filifera) shown on the right. 

Go to http://www.desert-tropicals.com/ to find information and photos on these agaves and many others.  Once you learn about them, agaves may become your favorite plant!


Filed Under: agave, cactus, desert plants, landscape, landscaping, low water use plants, xeriscape, xeriscaping