Agave Mixed

This mix of agaves offers a wide selection of plants, with many varieties of unusual shapes. These perennial succulents have an exotic appearance and are ideal for container gardens or rockeries in mild climates. Hardiness varies depending on the species, but all show good drought resistance and are easy to grow.

Exclusively American, found spontaneously in the Caribbean and southern United States, Mexico and the Antilles, agaves are extremely decorative plants, typical of warm countries and arid soils. They have slender, fleshy leaves, often bordered with sharp teeth. Small species take five to ten years to flower, while large ones can take up to forty years. These are semelparous plants, whose single flowering leads to death. The tall flowering stalk (up to 8m (26ft) high in Agave americana) emerges from the centre of the rosette and bears numerous tubular flowers arranged in panicles. The rosettes that develop at the periphery of the mother plant take over when the parent plant dies.

Agaves have a unique architectural presence. They have a special place in Mediterranean gardens, rockeries, or collections of potted plants. You can plant ground covers of the same undemanding temperament at their base: evening primroses, osteospermums, felicia, or witch's claws, which will fill the space with their flowering and evergreen foliage and hide the void left by a dead plant.

Certain parts of the agave are edible: the flowers, leaves (in spring they are richer in juice), floral stems (when roasted, they are sweet like molasses), and the juice, also called aguamiel (which means honey-water). Food derivatives like agave sugar are easily available. Before the arrival of the Spanish, the Native Americans produced a weakly alcoholic beverage by fermenting the juice of Agave atrovirens. The conquistadors distilled this beverage and gave birth to mezcal and tequila, obtained from the hearts of Agave tequilana.