Agave angustifolia 'Marginata', or Variegated Caribbean Agave, is a small beautiful Agave with stiff short, sword shape leaves with cream colored margins. Leaves will reach up to 20 inches (50 cm) long by 3-4 inches (8-10 cm) wide with marginal teeth and a subulate-conical terminal spine. They are great Agave for containers because of their small size. Plants freely sucker so there is never a loss for new plants.
Blooming: Our plant has never produced flowers. The flowers are greenish-yellow and approximately 2 inches (5 cm) long and flower stalks will reach up to 9 feet (2.5 m) in height.
Culture: Agave angustifolia 'Marginata' need full sun to partial shade or very high interior lighting. In the greenhouse, we use a soil mix consisting of equal parts of loam and sand. Plants are very drought tolerant and will thrive even after some neglect. Plants should be watered and allowed to dry thoroughly before watering again. We fertilize only once during the growing season with a balanced fertilizer. When grown as a houseplant, the temperature should never drop below 50° F (10° C). During the winter months, only water enough to keep the leaves from shriveling.
Propagation: Agave angustifolia 'Marginata' is propagated by using suckers, which often are found growing around the base of the plant, or by seed when available.
Agave angustifolia was featured as Plant of the Week March 4-10, 2005.
Guide to Past Plants-of-the-Week:
Cal's Plant of the Week was provided as a service by the University of Oklahoma Department of Microbiology & Plant Biology and specifically Cal Lemke, who used to be OU's botany greenhouse grower and an avid gardener at home as well. If the above links don't work, then try the overview site. You may also like to look at the thumbnail index. ©1998-2012 All rights reserved.