For most garden plants, flowering is a sign of renewed life.

Thats not the case with the succulent blue agave (Agave tequilana). Like other agaves, tequilana flowers only at the end of the plants life. A 15-foot asparagus-like stalk emerges from the center, sending out puffballs of flowers at the top. The mother plant then dies, but not before producing pups at its perimeter. Most blue agaves never get to that stage, however. The sugar-rich sap that develops prior to flowering can be fermented into the alcoholic drink called pulque; the heart, or pina, is used in the production of tequila. Although blue agave does grow well at sea level, it prefers the higher altitudes of its homeland, the 4,500-foot highlands of Jalisco state in western Mexico, where it develops its unique flavor. Like French wine varieties, tequila made from Jalisco blue agave lends qualities that reflect where and how it was produced, and it comes with a registration number that certifies its place of origin. As a landscape design element, blue agaves can be a dream. The plants are symmetrical, drought tolerant, slow-growing (which translates to less maintenance), able to thrive on hillsides -- and beautiful. The spiny tips, able to pierce the flesh to the bone, are the biggest drawback. Likewise the juice of the flesh can cause skin irritations similar to that of poison ivy. When planting it, gardeners will want to wear leather gloves and wrap the leaves in cardboard. At the Stanford Avalon community garden in Los Angeles, Norma Garcia picked up a blue agave leaf nearly 3 feet long that she planned to roast on a dry, hot griddle. Once she had burned the outside, she would juice the flesh, getting about 2 cups of liquid from the leaf. Water and cold are the two primary dangers to blue agave. Protect from frost, and drape a blanket over plants if they have been exposed to frost for more than a few days. Water weekly for the first month after planting, letting the soil dry out. After that once-a-month watering is adequate spring through fall; do not water at all during the winter. Blue agaves typically live a half-dozen years before flowering, but this final bloom can be postponed for 20 years or more if the plant is kept thirsty. Other agave species are more readily available, but you can find blue agave online or through Worldwide Exotics, a nursery in Lake View Terrace, and through San Marcos Growers. Some were even spotted over the weekend at a Home Depot. _____________________________________________________________________
Agave tequilana, commonly called blue agave (agave azul) or tequila agave, is an agave plant that is an important economic product of Jalisco, Mexico, due to its role as the base ingredient of tequila, a popular distilled beverage. The high production of sugars, mostly in the form of fructose, in the core of the plant, is its most important characteristic, making it suitable for the preparation of alcoholic beverages. The tequila agave is native to Jalisco, Mexico. The plant favors altitudes of more than 1,500 metres (5,000 ft) and grows in rich and sandy soils. Blue agave plants grow into large succulents, with spiky fleshy leaves, that can reach over 2 metres (7 ft) in height. Agaves sprout a stalk (quiote) when about five

years old that can grow an additional 5 metres (16 ft); they are topped with yellow flowers. This stalk is cut [1] off from commercial plants so the plant will put more energy into the heart. The flowers are pollinated by a native bat (Leptonycteris nivalis) and produce several thousand seeds per plant. The plant then dies. The shoots on commercial plants are removed when about a year old to allow the heart to grow larger. The plants are then reproduced by planting these shoots; this has led to a considerable loss of genetic diversity in cultivated blue agave. It is rare for one to be kept as a houseplant to flower, but a 50-year-old blue agave in Boston grew a 30foot (9 m) stalk requiring a hole in the greenhouse roof and flowered in the summer of 2006

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Agave tequilana (Weber's Blue Agave) A fast growing agave that grows to 5 feet tall and wide with 3 to 4 foot long narrow leaves of a beautiful shade of blue gray with a brown sharp terminal spine and margin teeth. It sends out pups, both near the plant's base and several feet away on rhizomes so give this plant some room. Plant in full sun in a well-drained soil and irrigate very little. This plant needs to be grown where temperatures do not drop below 25F or even below 27F for extended periods so it is likely limited to southern California coastal areas or the low desert. This is the plant used in the Jalisco, Mexico as the base ingredient of the distilled spirit called Tequila where it has been cultivated since before the Spanish arrived. Other products derived from this plant include aguamiel and pulque. It is considered a domesticated species without any wild populations known to exist. In Jalisco this plant is grown in well-drained soils at moderate altitudes of 4,500 feet or higher. And the plant is commonly called Tequila Agave or Weber's Blue Agave. The name Agave tequilana was given to this plant by Strasbourg born botanist Frdric Albert Constantin Weber, sometimes listed as F.A.C. Weber but also known as Dr. Albert Weber, who was classifying Mexican flora in the late 1890's and described Agave tequilana in 1902 in the French Publication Bulletin du Musum d'histoire naturelle (8:220, Paris, 1902). Dr. Weber was part of a French military expedition to Mexico in the mid 1860's and is credited with the description of numerous plants from this trip. This plant is similar to the closely related and widespread plant, Agave angustifolia, but Agave tequilana is generally thought to be more robust in habit with thicker longer leaves, stems and flower panicles. Howard Gentry noted in Agaves of North America that these differences are of degree rather than of distinct contrast, their separation as a species is nominal but further noted that the commercial trade with this important economic plant will profit by the maintenance of a simple binomial. This description of this plant is based on our research and our observations of it growing at the nursery, in our own garden and in other gardens. We always appreciate receiving feedback of any kind from those who have any additional information about this plant, particularly if they disagree with what we have written or have additional cultural tips that would aid others growing Agave tequilana . ________________________________________________________________________________