Associate the Mangave

In an exotic and graphic garden

With its agave-like appearance, colourful foliage, and preference for warmth and dry soils, the Mangave is destined for exotic-style gardens! It brings a very graphic and structured element. We recommend pairing it with other plants that have well-defined silhouettes, such as Phormiums, cordylines, dasylirions, and opuntias… not to mention agaves, the cousins of Mangaves: their similarly shaped foliage will complement each other to create a harmonious display. Alongside them, the very fine foliage of small grasses like Carex comans ‘Bronze’, blue fescue, or Stipa tenuifolia, will add movement and lightness. Also enjoy the highly decorative variegated foliage of the euphorbia ‘Glacier Blue’. You can plant alongside it the stunning Yucca filamentosa, which is very hardy and can withstand temperatures dropping between -20 and -25 °C. As for flowering, also choose structural plants, with inflorescences in upright spikes or spherical umbels, such as kniphofias, eucomis, Echinops ‘Star Frost’, Galtonia, and agapanthes.

Agapanthus africanus ‘Albus’, Eucomis ‘Sparkling Rosy’, Euphorbia characias ‘Glacier Blue’, Mangave ‘Silver Fox’ (photo Adobe Stock), Phormium cookianum ‘Black Adder’, and Dasylirion longifolium

In a sunny rockery

As it appreciates well-drained, rather stony or sandy substrates, the Mangave will be perfectly at home in a sunny rockery. You can create a rockery on a slope or bank, or build a raised mound, adding draining elements (coarse sand, gravel…) mixed with the soil, and place some large stones for aesthetic appeal and to retain the substrate. Additionally, planting the Mangave in a raised rockery will showcase it beautifully while facilitating water drainage by gravity. Pair it with small spreading or cushion-like plants, such as houseleeks, sedums, Iberis sempervirens, Delosperma, and Campanula muralis. You can also combine it with the lovely flowering of Erigeron karvinskianus, Armeria maritima, and helianthemums. Also consider rock geraniums, such as Geranium cinereum or Geranium renardii, which will brighten the rockery with their small five-petalled flowers in white, pink, mauve, or magenta.

Mangave ‘Bloodspot’ (photo Megan Hansen), Erigeron karvinskianus (photo Robert Flogaus-Faust), Geranium renardii ‘Zetterlund’, Helianthemum ‘Lawrensons Pink’ (photo Friedrich Strauss – MAP) and Sempervivum arachnoideum (photo Kristine Paulus)

In a Mediterranean-style garden

Particularly suited to mild climates, the Mangave will fit perfectly in a Mediterranean-style seaside garden. It will beautifully complement the majestic silhouette and silver foliage of an olive tree. To create a lovely harmony, you can choose a Mangave with grey or bluish leaves, such as the Mangave ‘Silver Fox’, or create contrast with the purplish-brown foliage of the Mangave ‘Mission to Mars’. Feel free to place aromatic plants alongside them: they have their place in Mediterranean gardens! For example, plant lavender, thyme, rosemary, savory, everlasting flower, and santolina. To bring colour, rely on the bright flowering of oleanders, lagerstroemias, and cistus. Don’t hesitate to incorporate climbing plants, such as bougainvilleas and bignonia, which you can train to climb on a trellis or pergola. Also enjoy the flowering of some perennials like Phlomis fruticosa, Eryngiums, Verbascums, and Euphorbia characias.

Punica granatum, Mangave ‘Man of Steel’, Bougainvillea, Agave americana ‘Variegata’, Phlomis fruticosa, and Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’

For a garden with warm tones!

Enjoy the Warm-Hued Mangaves, such as the varieties ‘Bloodspot’, ‘Redwing’, or ‘Kaleidoscope’, and pair them with other plants in shades of red, orange, yellow, purple… for a bright and vibrant garden! Consider the flowering of kniphofia, crocosmia, daylilies, Cannas, and Hedychiums. Their exotic style will blend beautifully with the Mangave, creating a very exotic atmosphere! Also consider Osteospermum ‘Cape Daisy Fire Burst’, which offers stunning daisy-shaped flowers in bronze-red. For foliage, also favour warm shades by choosing, for example, the Phormium ‘Pink Panther’, Carex comans ‘Bronze Form’, castor oil plant, Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’…

However, it should be noted that this style of planting, with its very bright colours, is more suited to large gardens. Red, in particular, can tend to overwhelm the space and make the planting a bit oppressive. In smaller gardens, it is better to favour cooler shades, which are more soothing and will create greater depth. You can create a beautiful planting by playing with blue, green, grey, and mauve tones… especially since many varieties of Mangaves offer foliage in bluish or silvery shades (‘Silver Fox’, ‘Man of Steel’…).

Crocosmia ‘Buttercup’, Mangave ‘Kaleidoscope’ (photo cultivar 413), Kniphofia ‘Fiery Fred’, Canna ‘Striata’, Osteospermum ‘Cape Daisy Terracotta’, and Phormium ‘Pink Panther’

To play with colour contrasts

For an impressive and very modern flowerbed, don’t hesitate to play with colours by creating contrasts! Highlight the Mangave by pairing it with opposite shades… There’s no better combination to showcase the exceptional colour of its foliage. For example, you can create a purple and anise bed, which will give a beautiful chiaroscuro effect. Choose, for instance, Mangave ‘Lavender Lady’ or ‘Mission to Mars’. Enhance its dark hue by planting alongside it Houseleek ‘Dark Beauty’ and Cordyline ‘Superstar’, then create a surprising contrast by integrating among them Thyme ‘Bertram Anderson’, Sedum ‘Lemon Ball’, or Sedum reflexum ‘Angelina’. Also enjoy the very bright flowering of Euphorbia ‘Baby Charm’. You will achieve a modern flowerbed with refreshing hues that catches the eye and leaves no one indifferent!

Thymus citriodorus ‘Bertram Anderson’, Mangave ‘Lavender Lady’ (photo Adobe Stock), Euphorbia characias ‘Baby Charm’, Sempervivum ‘Dark Beauty’ (photo Magnus Manske), Sedum ‘Lemon Ball’ and Cordyline obtecta ‘Superstar’

With ethereal flowerings, to create contrasts in shape!

The Mangave has thick, imposing leaves, pointed with well-defined shapes, giving it an impeccable graphic silhouette! It can easily be highlighted by pairing it with much softer and lighter forms. Choose perennials with airy, wispy flowering: gypsophila, gauras, Erigeron karvinskianus, Verbena bonariensis… Also favour plants with very fine and light leaves, such as grasses, which will additionally create movement with the slightest breeze, alongside the static and solid silhouette of the Mangave. Surround it with numerous clumps of Stipa tenuifolia or Stipa pennata, as well as a few Pennisetums. The Mangave will give the impression of floating on a cloud! To emphasise the contrast, integrate a few other plants with a massive or spiky appearance, such as Agave montana, or Eryngiums.

Feel free to double this contrast of shapes with a contrast of colours by choosing a dark, purple, or black Mangave, and surrounding it with plants in light and bright colours: white, silver, cream, yellow, gold…

Mangave ‘Mission to Mars’ (photo Adobe Stock), Gypsophila paniculata (photo Adobe Stock), Stipa pennata, Agave montana (photo M. Hansen) and Stipa tenuifolia