Designing with SucculentsHow to incorporate succulents and cacti into your garden design
During a trip-up to Puerto Escondido in Southern Mexico , I rediscovered the majesticagave , and ever since then they have fill my conscious thoughts as well as sticking , or poking , into my dreaming . At San Marcos Wholesale Growers in Santa Barbara , I recently found one I had never interpret before : Agave‘Sharkskin ’ . For me , this is a spectacular plant , either by itself as a prominent accent or focal point , or planted en masse on a hillside . It ply posture and drama while enduring drouth , as well as temperatures between 20 and 25 degrees . I love the way the shadows of the leaves fall across one another . And count on the Light Within , they may be a ghostly , silver comportment or animated as bold , slashing strokes .
This sharkskin agave was photographed at the Ruth Bancroft Garden , a public garden in Walnut Creek , California , which has a diverse aggregation of agaves and other drought - tolerant plants . photograph by : Barb Ries .
The sharkskin is a robust , stout works that is not susceptible to pests , will grow up to 3 feet tall , and is easy to maintain . Its muscular , shark - like appearance contrasts with the plum and maroon sheen of its leaf security deposit . General manager Randy Baldwin at San Marcos consider the plant a hybrid betweenA. victoriae - reginaeandA. scabra .
The sharkskin agave is well constitute , with a fascinating muscular texture like the skin of a shark . Photo by : Barb Ries .
Because of their self - sufficiency , agaves are often circularise about a garden willy-nilly . This does not do judge to their power to make a striking argument when aggroup together . And do n’t underestimate the shock of their coloring . At Lotusland in Santa Barbara , Madame Ganna Walska used agaves in a blue garden as a primary optical program line , emphasizing their steel - blue tinge .
Pamela Burton . photograph by : Victoria Pearson .
I admire the fact that while appear humble , the American aloe is really a imposing plant , enduring longer than others that initially seem more showy . The sharkskin agave is a grand exemplar of the genus - uncompromising , adaptable , ageless , a rare blend of subtle and stunning .
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