Re: Agave americana (forms)

At 08:13 AM 12/2/98 PST, wmglover@granger.com wrote:
> >Conversely, A. a. 'Medio-Picta Alba', whose
> >central stripe is a more startling grey-white seems to be very vigorous and
> >stable.  It will eventually reach a fair size though not as large as the
> >other variegate forms.  I have several small specimens of this form if
anyone
> >is interested.  I used to have a very large rosette in the main garden, 
>
>Sean O'Hara,
>
>'very vigorous' and 'fair size' for Agave americana 'medio-picta alba' 
>caught my eye. Can you qualify these descriptions, please?  Have been 
>growing, or trying to grow, this at Nevis for a decade. But none of the 
>plants has ever grown as much as 18 inches in diameter or high. 
>Additionally, m.p. alba scorches badly in full tropical sun unlike all 
>the other A. americana varieties. 
>
>What with three hurricanes in the past three years all my big A. 
>americanas are now looking rather ragged and will probably restart them 
>from pups later this month when I return to Nevis.
>
>Warm regards,
>
>William Glover

William - 

You seemed to have been dropped from Medit-Plants - I've reinstated your
ID for you.

By 'fair size', I think I menat more like 2ft in diameter, or perhaps a little
bit more.  Agave americana 'Medio-Picta Alba' can grow to a larger size but I
have rarely seen it.  The tend to be a bit slower as well as smaller than the
'type' species, not bad traits given the huge size the other rapidly achieve.

Sounds like you'd be best growing this guy in some shade - a novel idea for
this species of Agave.  Many variegated plants also burn in our hot sun, but 
your tropical Nevis is even worse.  There are a variety of tropical Agaves as
well, some thriving in partial shade, with soft leaves and few if any spines.
It is a broad genus with a variety of 'expressions'.

Sean O.
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