Agave chrysantha

Description

Agave chrysantha, correctly named Agave palmeri ssb chrysantha, is another amazing Agave with outrageous upright thick, barbed glaucous leaves forming a wonderful, dense rosette.  The barbs and spines are purple-black and as new leaves emerge, they leave a beautiful imprint on the leave to follow. In it’s native Arizona it is commonly called the golden flowered century plant due to the brightly coloured flowers which are dramatically held on tall stems up to 7 metres high. Truly architectural and perfect for a sunny well drained position Agave chrysantha is well worth a try outdoors in the U.K.  Excellent on the coast and can be planted in a container.  Whilst this is one of the hardier varieties, do make sure that it isn’t wet or frozen over winter.

As with all hardy or hardy-ish agave if you want to try growing year-round outside choose a hot sunny position with perfect drainage, add gravel and ideally mulch around the base with gravel too. I always recommend building a roof over the top of treasured agave plants in winter. Simply hammer in 4 stakes around the agave a fix a clear plastic ‘roof’ onto the top of each stake above the agave leaving the sides clear allowing wind to pass through the leaves.

Alternately we recommend growing in a pot in full sun from April to the end of October depending on the weather and moving it to a greenhouse, conservatory or even shed for the winter where it can have protection from freezing and wet. No watering will be needed from November to March.