×Mangave ‘Navajo Princess’ - Agave Navajo Princess

xMangave 'Navajo Princess' is a succulent plant that forms a rosette wider than it is tall, with a very geometric and ornamental appearance. The long leaves, overlapping at the base of one another, display a dark green with a slightly bluish tint, highlighted by a peripheral margin of creamy white. The clump produces new leaves each year, reaching 45 cm in diameter at maturity. The tough and quite stiff leaves are pointed and have teeth along their edges. Well-adapted to drought, this plant can withstand brief frosts of around -7°C. It will easily find a place in a rockery in the southern or southwestern regions of Europe and should be grown in a pot elsewhere to be overwintered in a cool, bright, and frost-free room.

Mangave is an intergeneric hybrid (strictly speaking, it is therefore an x Mangave) that appeared in the early 2000s, the result of cross-breeding between the Agave and Manfreda genera, both members of the Asparagaceae family. This family now encompasses the Agavaceae and other botanical families that were once distinct. While the flagship genus is Asparagus, many other ornamental genera are grouped within this family, such as Aspidistra, once a houseplant but hardy enough to be planted in the garden, or the popular Yucca.
'Navajo Princess' was developed by breeder Hans Hansen (Walters Garden nurseries in Michigan, USA) by crossing Agave montana, a very hardy alpine species, and Manfreda maculosa, which has thornless, leopard-patterned leaves (green marked with brown). This Manfreda is quite frost-hardy (down to -8°C) and can even regrow from its underground tubercle if the above-ground part freezes completely. xMangave 'Navajo Princess' is part of the Mad About Mangave® horticultural range, which includes many attractive varieties, such as Chocolate Chips. The plant initially forms a rosette of a few leaves, which continually increases until it forms a pretty, fairly low clump, approximately 20 to 25 cm tall and 45 to 50 cm in diameter. It produces long, tough leaves, slightly swollen in the lower third and then very tapered, ending in a point, much like Agaves. Similarly, the margins of the leaves have small, very sharp teeth, quite rough on the hands. The young leaves emerge erect and vertical from the centre of the rosette, then quickly curve to become horizontal, giving the Mangave its wider-than-tall silhouette. Their colour is a deep, almost dark green with a bluish hue, edged with creamy white along the entire border. This colour contrast is particularly elegant and gives the variety its originality. After a few years, when the Mangave has grown sufficiently, it sends up a large flower spike that rises from the heart of the rosette to over a metre in height. The upper half of the spike is adorned with several dozen tiered lateral shoots, each bearing five or six creamy-coloured tubular flowers.

xMangave 'Navajo Princess' will integrate perfectly into a sunny rockery in southern Europe, alongside other plants with an exotic appearance. Plant it alongside different varieties of Aeonium to create an attractive, colourful scene in every season. A lovely "mother-in-law's cushion" (Echinocactus grusonii) will create a very interesting contrast in form and volume, which will also be the case if you opt for the famous prickly pear cacti, or Opuntia, with silhouettes that are sometimes compact, sometimes sprawling, depending on the species.