Tag Archive for: King Ferdinand agave

Growing Octopus Agave: A Testament to the Cycle of Life

octopus agave (Agave vilmoriniana)

My favorite type of succulent are agave. While there are many different species, I’ll never forget the first one I ever grew. It was an octopus agave (Agave vilmoriniana) that planted years ago while in college studying for my horticulture degree. It has an unusual form and I love the plant. Even though that was long ago, I have a daily reminder of that first agave plant. Because its descendants are growing in my garden today.

The Grandbabies of the First Agave: Octopus Agave Life Cycle

This agave is the ‘grandbaby’ of the first one that I grew all those years ago. It was with a feeling of sadness when I noticed it sending up its flowering stalk late in winter. This is signalling that it was nearing the end of its life. At the same time, there was also a sense of excitement about new birth. There is the promise of a new generation of agave babies on their way.

Tall flowering spike of an octopus agave (Agave vilmoriniana)

The Fascinating Flowering Process of Agave

The age that an agave is when it flowers varies between the different species. Some living for decades before they send up their towering spikes. With octopus agave, they generally live less than ten years before this wondrous process begins to take place. 

Yellow flowers of the octopus agave (Agave vilmoriniana) attract bees

Watching the rate of growth of the flowering stalk of an agave never ceases to amaze me. They grow several inches a day.

Propagating Octopus Agave: A Lesson in Patience

bold yellow agave flowers

Golden yellow flowers began to open along the length of the giant stem. This is much to the delight of bees who happily pollinate the blooms.

baby agave forming on the stem

Pollinated flowers soon gave way to tiny octopus agave along the stem.

hand picking the agave babies off the stem

And a few weeks later, they were ready to be picked. Definitely ready to create a new generation of octopus agave for my garden.

Nurturing Agave Offspring

octopus agave (Agave vilmoriniana) babies

There are probably over a thousand small agave growing along the stalk. However, I selected only nine to represent the next generation. I’m not likely to plant all of them in my garden once they are rooted. But it’s a good idea to select a few more than you are planning for in case some don’t make it, or if you want to give a few away.

agave roots forming

Each baby agave is called a ‘bulbil’. They don’t have any roots yet, but will soon appear when planted.

octopus agave (Agave vilmoriniana) in containers

I filled three pots with a planting mix. This mix is specially formulated for cactus and succulents. That means it is well-drained, which is important when growing succulents. Three agave babies went into each pot. I placed in the backyard in an area that receives morning sun and filtered shade in the afternoon. Placing them in full sun all day would be too difficult for them at this stage as they still need to grow roots.

Agave babies growing stronger

My job now is to keep the soil moist but not soggy. Roots will then form, which should take approximately 3-4 weeks. At that time, I can start to space out the watering to every five days or so. Eventually, I will move them out of the pot. Then transplant them into the garden or into a large container (2 1/2 feet tall and wide). There they can make their new home.

Continuing the Agave Legacy

I’m not sure where I will plant each new octopus agave. But I will transplant one to where the parent plant used to be, continuing the cycle of life.

King Ferdinand agave

The baby boom isn’t over. Soon, I will be welcoming another set of baby agave into my garden as my King Ferdinand agave has also sent up its flowering stalk. This species is somewhat rare in the landscape and takes a very long time before it flowers, so I am very excited to welcome its babies next month.

I’m about to show you my messy container plants, which have been sadly ignored for the past few months.

Overgrown Container Plants Pruning

Overgrown Container Plants

Shocking isn’t it? I’m embarrassed to show this to you, but I’m the first to admit that I’m not a perfect gardener. Sometimes, life gets in the way of garden maintenance tasks, and since I don’t have my own personal gardener on my payroll, my plants sometimes look like this.

While the plants are perfectly happy and healthy, they are messy, and you can’t even tell how many plants and pots there are.

The center pot is filled with a lush green Arabian jasmine (Jasminum sambac) shrub and some overgrown ‘Victoria Blue’ salvia.

Overgrown Container Plants Pruning

Arabian jasmine loves shade and can handle filtered shade too. It’s fragrant white flowers greet visitors who pass by it on the way to the front door. As you can see, it does well when planted in the ground or a large pot.

hop bush (Dodonaea viscosa), bush morning glory (Convolvulus cneorum), and foxtail asparagus fern (Protasparagus densiflorus 'Meyeri')

In this corner, my lovely blue pot is filled with a hop bush (Dodonaea viscosa), bush morning glory (Convolvulus cneorum), and foxtail asparagus fern (Protasparagus densiflorus ‘Meyeri’).

I planted this arrangement of plants last year and was inspired by a collection of containers that I saw in California.

Overgrown Container Plants Pruning

I love the combination of plants known for their foliage and wanted this for my front entry. Needless to say, mine doesn’t look like this and won’t without a little attention from me.

'King Ferdinand' agave (Agave ferdinandi-regis) and elephants food (Portulacaria afra).

This is my succulent container that is filled with a single ‘King Ferdinand’ agave (Agave ferdinandi-regis) and elephants food (Portulacaria afra).

*The witch decoration is a little outdoor decoration for Halloween.

Overgrown Container Plants Pruning

Overgrown Container Plants Pruning

I started in by pruning the most prominent plant, the Arabian jasmine. Using my hand pruners, I cut it back, removing approximately 2/3 of its total size. The ‘Victoria Blue’ salvia was cut back as well, but it is on its way out as it’s usually used for as a warm season annual, but it may come back and bloom for me before winter arrives.

Overgrown Container Plants Pruning

As I pruned back the overgrown jasmine, I discovered a forgotten trailing plant that I had added several months ago. I can’t remember what it was – perhaps bacopa or scaevola.

Arabian jasmine

That looks so much better! The Arabian jasmine will grow back a little before the cold of winter halts its growth. I lightly trimmed the elephants food and tied up the hop bush to a wooden stake to help promote more upright growth. 

In about a week, I’ll add some flowering annuals to the black pot, and I’m open to suggestions. *Do you have a favorite cool-season annual?

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