Losing another large agave
This summer, I removed two agaves , Agave bovicornuta and Agave shrevei var. matapensis × Agave guadalajarana . They had flowered and were dying. Bittersweet, but the ultimate fate of most agave species. It’s one thing taking out an agave that has come to the end of its life span. It’s something else entirely when an agave (a large one to boot) croaks seemingly from one day to the next. A few weeks ago, I noticed something was amiss with Agave gentryi ‘Jaws’ in the sidewalk strip: The leaves had begun to fold in on themselves in a rather extreme way: And black liquid was coming out of the center: Black stuff oozing out of any plant is never a good sign. Even worse, I was able to rock the entire agave back and forth with just one hand. Friends who stopped by during my open garden for the Sacramento Cactus and Succulent Society confirmed what I already knew: It was a goner. Removing ‘Jaws’ was easy: I was able to pull the entire rosette to the curb with nothing but my two hands. There...
