Agave attenuata

Description

Agave attenuata known as the ‘Foxtail Agave’ due to the spectacular flower spike that is produced on mature plants is a choice agave from central Mexico. Spineless and with soft leaves Agave attentuata is a rariety amongst a family of generally spikey quiet vicious plants being what I would call a cuddly friendly agave perfect for container cultivation as an accent plant outdoors during the summer months and great company indoors during the colder months. In the wild it mostly grows in warm temperate to sub-tropical conditions and as such really needs winter temperatures above 8 or 9 degrees centigrade to do well. We grow ours in a free draining compost watering and feeding regularly during spring and summer, kept just moist to dry from mid autumn through the winter. A very rewarding and easy to care for plant with a wonderful architectural appearance relatively fast growing up to 1.20-1.40cm high and almost as wide when fully grown. The magnificient flower spike can be 2.5m long and usually arches over under the weight of the multitude of small greenish yellow flowers.