Succulents and More™

Here is one of my Mangave ‘Foxy Lady’ (I have two) in its prime, a year and a half ago: Mangave ‘Foxy Lady’ in April 2025 In the spring, this ‘Foxy Lady’ started to flower. As is the case for the vast majority of agaves, manfredas, and mangaves (hybrids between the two), flowering is the end of the road. In most cases, the pollinated flowers become seed pods, but some varieties go a different way: They make bulbils on the flower stalk — baby plants that are genetic clones of the mother. Check out this post from early July to see the flower stalk on the Mangave ‘Foxy Lady’ above. It was laden with hundreds of bulbils. As I mentioned in my July post, I pulled off a few bulbils as an experiment. They rooted very quickly, so on August 14, I began to harvest bulbils in earnest: Harvesting ‘Foxy Lady’ bulbils on August 14 Some bulbils are fused together like this I filled a seedling tray with a well-draining soil mix (50% garden soil, 50% lava rock) and then stuck the bulbils into it. Strai...

My Mangave ‘Foxy Lady’ is in the process of making bulbils — dozens, maybe hundreds. I was going to include a few photos in my last This and that post , but I decided to write a separate piece so I can dive a bit deeper into the mystery and marvel that are bulbils. Bulbils forming on the flower stalk of my Mangave ‘Foxy Lady’ Bulbils are baby plants, genetically identical to the parent, that form directly on the flower stalk (aka inflorescence). Often they develop the beginnings of roots (called root primordia) while still attached. In nature, when the bulbil-laden flower stalk eventually falls over or the bulbils are dislodged by wind or wildlife, they quickly take root and begin growing as independent plants. Bulbils are rare in the wider plant kingdom, but some agave species (as well as most furcraeas and certain yuccas) produce bulbils as a brilliant evolutionary insurance policy. The reason is simple: Most agaves are monocarpic, meaning they flower only once at the end of thei...