Agave ‘Blue Brian’

Description

Agave ‘Blue Brian’ is a very beautiful if rather unimaginatively named agave. If it was up to me a simple misspell making it Agave ‘Blue Brain’ would be much more fun. It would appear that this agave is another interesting introduction from breeders in the Southern United States and is a result of a cross between the fairly hardy Agave parrasana and the less hardy but gorgeous Agave potatorum resulting in the rather special plant we have here. As such I would expect ‘Blue Brian’ to be of a similar if slightly smaller size than parrasana but with indistinct wavy edged deep blue green leaves tipped with ferocious spines sharing the overall tight lotus bud form of Agave parrasana.

Good news for all us lovers of hardy and not so hardy succulents is that Agave ‘Blue Brian’ by all reports seems to be a fairly tolerant agave certainly capable of withstanding freezing conditions if kept dry so well worth a try outdoors in milder parts of the U.K.

As with all of the hardier agaves 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.