Agaves: Living Sculptures for Landscapes and Containers

by Greg Starr

Gardeners and garden designers are having a love affair with agaves. It's easy to see why—they're low maintenance, drought-tolerant, and strikingly sculptural, with an astounding range of form and color. Many species are strikingly variegated, and some have contrasting ornamental spines on the edges of their leaves. Fabulous for container gardening or in-the-ground culture, they combine versatility with easy growability. In Agaves , plant expert Greg Starr profiles 75 species, with additional cultivars and hybrids, best suited to gardens and landscapes. Each plant entry includes a detailed description of the plant, along with its cultural requirements, including hardiness, sun exposure, water needs, soil requirements, and methods of propagation. Agaves can change dramatically as they age and this comprehensive guide includes photos showing each species from youth to maturity—a valuable feature unique to this book.

Genres: Gardening, Plants

342 pages, Hardcover

First published May 29, 2012

Reviews

[Pam Penick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Greg Starr profiles 80 kinds of agaves — “species, varieties, cultivars, and hybrids that are available to the agave enthusiast, including some species that are most suitable for container culture in areas where frost occurs” — which means it’s likely that, whatever you’re growing, Starr’s book covers it.

Each featured agave is given a multi-page treatment with numerous color photos, along with field notes about how it grows in its native habitat and where to find it; a thorough description of shape, bloom, and growth habit in the wild and in cultivation; growth culture including cold- and heat-tolerance, how much and what time of year to water it, and soil preference; and how to use it in the garden, including plant pairing suggestions.

Starr helpfully includes a chapter on distinguishing among look-alike agaves, as well as a list of agaves organized by size, which is useful when selecting one for your garden or a container. Another chapter provides over-wintering tips, pest-control info, and planting instructions.

The biggest takeaway for me is the diversity of plants in this genus, not only in size and shape but also in preferred habit. Some like baking sun, others dappled shade; some demand frost-free hothouse luxury, others cooler mountain temperatures. This book will help you figure out which is which and choose agaves that will thrive in your garden’s conditions. But ever the agave thrill-seeker, Starr urges the reader to try even a few marginal agaves if you like them. Once you’ve seen his photos and read his descriptions, you may find yourself crossing over into agave-nut territory yourself.

[Sara Thompson]

Agaves are a type of succulent plant characterized by rosetta-like structure – leaves that spread out from the base in a circle. Interest in these plants for landscaping grew in the 1980s but it wasn’t until the turn of the century that Agave’s popularity surged. They are drought and heat tolerant plants that are naturally found in the southwestern region of the United States and into Mexico. Greg Starr offers information on how to incorporate Agave plants into your landscape regardless of where you live. Some species can tolerate severe cold while others can tolerate wetter climates. He goes on to explain how you can help your Agave thrive even in the less than ideal conditions. The majority of the book is a detailed explanation of each species of Agave. With each description, Greg Starr offers landscaping information and how best to raise that particular species. He includes information on where they can be found in nature and what conditions can be found there. The book is beautifully photographed with pictures of Agaves in various states of growth. The information appears to be simple but until you put it to use I couldn’t really say. I would have liked to have a reason to grow Agaves instead of they look neat. I wish the author would have sold the idea better but then if you weren’t already interested you probably wouldn’t be picking up his book. I like gardening books but I have limited experience and even less space. I would have loved to find out how to eat an Agave plant or to learn which were edible and how to harvest them.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are so few books about agaves that I have to give this one 4 stars just for existing. It was interesting and informative, but I wanted more information than the book provided. I would have appreciated more in-depth info on care and propagation, coring, and growing from seed. I would have also appreciated advice on growing agaves outside of their native territory. Not all succulent and agave fanatics live in the southwest! As with many books of this type, there's only a chapter or two of info, and then it just turns into an encyclopedia reference to different varieties of agaves. A few of the ones I was most interested in reading about I could not find in the book, so that was a bit of a disappointment. Not sure what the hardcover version looks like, but the photos in the kindle version where rather small and puny.