Catching the light via agave & yucca
Late afternoon sunlight catches even fleshy agave leaves and makes them glow. Last weekend my DH and I heaved this variegated American agave in a heavy pot from the upper patio down into the raised bed to create a focal point. Serendipitously, it’s now in a position to catch the afternoon light.
A closer look at those glowing yellow stripes and wine-stained teeth.
The setting sun also incandesces the waxy, white flowers of the softleaf yucca (Y. recurvifolia).
Another look. Behind it you can see the young Mexican weeping bamboo (Otatea acuminata aztecorum). I can’t wait for it to shoot up above the neighbor’s red-tip photinia hedge and catch the setting sunlight too.
What a relief it is when the Death Star sinks low in the sky and does this to my garden.
All material © 2006-2009 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
I wonder if the plant will make a few pups now it is in the ground. I will be on the waiting list if it does. The one you gave me in the spring, which I put outside, has been eaten down to nothing. The deer are desperate and will eat anything this year.
The variegated American agave is still in its blue pot, Jenny. We just moved the whole thing down into the raised bed. However, this one is a prolific offsetter, and I have no doubt it will produce pups from time to time, even in a pot. When it does I’ll save one for you. MSS of Zanthan Gardens also gets lots of these pups, so check with her. She gave me my starter plant, in fact. —Pam
When I looked at some of these close ups I thought of the phrase ‘…the devil is in the details’. Marvelous shots. I hope you all have a heavy duty two-wheeler to help you place those gigantic pots.
We used a dolly but had to lift it over a few plants that were in the way. Whew, heavy! —Pam
Absolutely gorgeous photos Pam. I remember waiting to see that subtle shift of light in late August/early September when I lived in Austin. That’s when I knew I would finally survive the summer (Death Star, ha!) and fall would be there soon!
Hooray for the dimming of the death star, the screech owl family, the mystery of the datura metal and the school house lily poking up! I ordered some of those lilies last year when you all were showing them in bloom and had forgotten all about them. Must go check!
Frances
Beautiful shots, truly stunning of your agave.
Perfect!