Mangave Frosted Elegance

Mangave MAD ABOUT MANGAVÉ® Frosted Elegance is a collector's succulent plant that forms an elegant silvery-blue rosette, enlivened by a broad pale green band. This variety, with its frosted tones, has a minimal and contemporary style. Grown in a large pot, it will decorate a patio or terrace. This not very hardy variety, with fairly rapid growth, combines the appearance of agaves with a more sought-after colouration.

Mangave MAD ABOUT MANGAVÉ® Frosted Elegance belongs to the Asparagaceae family. It is classified among the mangaves, which are hybrids between agaves and manfredas. It is a non-hardy, succulent perennial, intended for mild climates or container cultivation.

This variety was created by breeder Hans Hansen at the Walters Gardens nursery. It was introduced to the market in 2019 and integrated into the Mad About Mangave® range. 'Frosted Elegance' shares the same parentage as another cultivar, 'Desert Dawn', but is distinguished by its cool, silvery-blue colouration and more reserved appearance. The plant adopts a regular rosette habit, wider than it is tall. At maturity, it reaches 15 to 20 cm in height and 30 to 35 cm in diameter. Its growth is significantly faster than that of many agaves. The rigid and fleshy leaves are long, narrowly lanceolate, and slightly arched downwards. Coloured blue-grey to silvery, they are covered with a fine, waxy bluish coating responsible for their "frosted" appearance. A broad band of pale green or grey-green runs down the centre of each leaf. The margin of the leaves has small, spaced teeth, more dissuasive than truly aggressive, and the tip is prickly without being as formidable as on a large agave. The foliage is evergreen in winter.
Like most mangaves, 'Frosted Elegance' can produce a flower spike adorned with cream or greenish tubular flowers after several years. This flowering occurs in summer or early autumn. The mother plant then tends to gradually decline, but will have previously formed a few offshoots that will take over.

Mangave MAD ABOUT MANGAVÉ® Frosted Elegance is perfectly suited to container cultivation on a sunny terrace or balcony. In dry climates with very mild winters, it also finds a place in a rockery or atop a low wall. 
To create an original succulent ensemble, pair it with other mangaves with contrasting foliage, for example, Navajo Princess with its broad dark green leaves edged in cream, or Lavender Lady with its grey-lavender-pink rosettes. At the edge of a very large container, plant a Senecio serpens Blue Chalk, which is even bluer, and, in the background, a Yucca x 'French Flag' to add height.

Mangave, as a group, was born from a "happy accident" of pollination between an agave and a manfreda in a horticultural collection. This type of hybrid generated such enthusiasm among succulent enthusiasts that dedicated breeding programmes quickly emerged in the United States, giving rise to the entire Mad About Mangave® series. Frosted Elegance embodies this spirit well: a plant with the look of an agave, but more versatile and with unprecedented colours.