Whale’s tongue agave
‘Tis but thy spines that are my enemy. My apologies to Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet), but I really am reminded of a rose when I look at this agave. It’s a gorgeous, blue rose . . . with teeth.
This is a fairly new variety of agave available in nurseries. Plant Delights Nursery provides a little history: “This fabulous agave was first brought into the U.S. by the late Lynn Lowery, who found it growing between 3000′ and 7000′ elevation in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. It was planted around Dallas and survived for decades unscathed by cold. Agave expert Greg Starr, curious to know its identity, retraced Lynn’s route and found the original population in Mexico, where it was determined to be a new species and subsequently named in 2002.”
Clearly Greg Starr, or whoever named it, has a quirky sense of humor. I found it hard to resist based on the name alone.

At the Wildflower Center’s native-plant sale over the weekend, I picked up this little Havard agave. It’s shrimpy now, but eventually it will be a 2’x3′ evergreen “shrub” (a little smaller than the Whale’s tongue) in my salvia and coneflower bed. Hey, if global warming is inevitable, at least my agaves will survive.
I took out a young pavonia, which doesn’t offer any winter interest, to put in the Havard agave. While I was muddy, I moved two Gulf muhly grasses into that bed also. Gulf muhly is the most stunning grass you can grow in Austin, but I have never had much success with them, and I don’t know why. I keep trying though. These two look pitiful right now, but here’s how they’re supposed to look. Maybe next year mine will reward my devotion with those feathery pink blooms.

I also picked up three 4″ pots of pigeonberry at the Wildflower Center sale and planted them under the vitex tree. That area is increasingly shady, and I needed a low groundcover there. I’ve never grown pigeonberry before, and I find its combination of pink flowers and red berries a little odd, but what the heck. I’ll give almost anything a try, especially if it’s a native plant with good survival instincts. I added a few Gulf Coast penstemons among them for taller spring color. I’ll have to wait until spring to see how the combination plays out.
How poor are they that have not patience! (Othello)