Agave angustifolia Marginata

Agave angustifolia 'Marginata' is an ornamental succulent plant with a regular ball-shaped habit composed of long, pointed, narrow leaves. The leaves are bluish-green with white cream margins, and flushed with pink at the heart of its rosette. Its tough clump of prickly leaves grows close to the ground reaching only 1.2m (4ft) in all directions. This perennial is well adapted to humid and warm climates but also tolerates dryness and sea spray, making it suitable for coastal gardens. It can withstand temperatures down to -5°C (23°F), and its moderate size allows it to be potted and stored during winter. Plant it in full sun, in well-drained soil, that is not too dry. It will add an exotic and luminous touch to a dry rock garden!

Originally from the Pacific coastal regions of Mexico and the Caribbean, Agave angustifolia 'Marginata' is primarily a plant well adapted to humid and warm conditions in very well-drained environments. It belongs to the Asparagaceae family (formerly Agavaceae), just like yuccas and tuberose. This perennial succulent plant has rhizomes capable of producing numerous offshoots throughout its life, but it is almost devoid of an above-ground stem, which takes the form of an extremely short, barely visible trunk, reaching a maximum height of 60cm (24in). The dense and regular rosette is very open when the plant is in full sun, but will be more compact in a subject exposed to partial shade. It will not exceed 1.2m (4ft) in all directions, with moderately fast growth. It is composed of straight, long, narrow, thin, pointed, succulent leaves 60cm (24in) long. They are bluish to greenish-blue with a creamy-white border, sometimes taking on a pinkish hue. The leaves are equipped with small reddish-brown thorns. When a rosette exceeds the venerable age of 10 years, or even longer, it produces a flowering stalk reaching a height of 3m (10ft). It bears numerous horizontal branches. The branches bear flattened, spherical panicles composed of a myriad of small white-green tubular flowers. The rosette, called semelparous, dies after flowering, which lasts several months.

In very mild climates, this agave will find its place in a large rockery, a dry slope, or in a raised bed whose soil has been enriched with gravel or coarse sand. It can be planted with frost-resistant prickly pears such as Opuntia humifusa 'Millevaches', giant fennel, hardy candle cacti (Cleistocactus strausii, Cylindropuntia imbricata), and ground-covering plants such as dwarf mugworts, Rhodanthemum, and Ajania pacifica, which are all equally undemanding. Gardeners in colder regions can plant it in a very large pot on a terrace, carefully choosing the sunniest and most sheltered location to recreate a garden inspired by those that flourish at the end of the world. This frost-sensitive plant should be overwintered in a bright, well-ventilated room, kept frost-free.

Agave is also an edible plant, used in Mexico to make mescal, an alcoholic beverage obtained by fermenting its sugar-rich juice. It is also used in traditional medicine in Mexico, Brazil, and India for its supposed anti-fungal properties. The inflorescences are highly attractive to many pollinating insects.