Scientific: Agave x 'Blue Flame'
Common: blue flame agave
Family: Asparagaceae (subfamily Agavoideae)
Origin: A hybrid cross between Agave attenuata and Agave shawii that was first selected by David Verity in the early 1960s at the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden on the campus of UCLA and was later introduced to the public (designation ISI 2005-6) in 2005 by the Huntington Botanic Garden through their ISI (International Succulent Introduction) program in conjunction with Pacific Horticulture's PPP (Pacific Plant Promotions) program.
Pronounciation: A-GA-ve BLEW FLAME
Hardiness zones
Sunset 12-24
USDA 9-11
Landscape Use: Graceful, textural accent succulent plant for small- and medium-sized oasis and mesic landscape designed gardens and landscapes, rock gardens, raised planters, patio containers, and a great plant for 'back lighting' in landscapes at night. This is not an agave for Phoenix highly-exposed and large-scaled xeric or desert landscapes.
Form & Character: Upright, graceful and spreading, a suggestion of being somewhat diminuative in stature with movement (like a blue propane flame), people friendly, Mediterranean like.
Growth Habit: Evergreen, succulent and fibrous, herbaceous perennial, monocarpic, grows to 3-feet tall and 3-feet wide, grows copious, densely arrayed basal offshoots that can ultimately clump and spread to 6- to 8-feet wide.
Foliage/Texture: Strap-shaped, fibrous blue-green glaucous leaves, 18-inches long by 4- to 6-inches wide at the base, leaves not rigid, taper to a sharp, incurved, but not dangerous tip, leaf margins finely serrate and lined with thin red and yellow striations (striations not as prominent in Phoenix); medium texture.
Flowers & Fruits: Produces a tall, solitary stalk to 15-feet tall with compact, small and not so beautiful yellow flowers after 10 to 15 years; fruits sterile (seed not viable) and sometimes after flowering grows bulbils. Remember its monocarpic, so after flowering the plant dies though basal offsets will persist.
Seasonal Color: None
Temperature: Cold tolerant to 20oF and heat tolerant to 115oF.
Light: In Phoenix, mostly full sun. Shade protection from western afternoon summer sun is best. Full sun in southern California. Will tolerate partial shade conditions.
Soil: Tolerant of all soil textures (prefers a sandy loam) as long as the soil is well drained.
Watering: Regular supplemental water about every two weeks during summer is best in Phoenix, but in southern California only very little to no supplemental water is needed. Supplemental water somewhat increases plant growth rate and eventual size.
Pruning: None required.
Propagation: Division of basal offshoots is easy, rooting of bulbils (propagule resource rarely available), tissue culture.
Disease and Pests: Agave snout weevil (Scyphophorus acupunctatus) will attack many agave species in the low desert of Arizona, root rot might occur, particularly in poorly-drained and/or overly-irrigated soils.
Additional comments: This is a very graceful, small- to medium-sized, heavily clumping agave that welcomes some afternoon protection in Phoenix in order to survive because of its sensitivity to extreme Phoenix summer heat in tandem with intense afternoon summer sun. In southern California coastal areas such as in Los Angeles no protection from sun, heat, or cold is required. Like its landscape cousin, Agave x 'Blue Glow', this is agave hybrid is quite popular.
