About
Agave colorata is a slow-growing evergreen succulent that develops a rigid rosette composed of broad green leaves covered with a dusty blue-grey coating. The leaves feature undulating edges with sharp serrations and have brown spines at their tips, often displaying patterns of bud imprints. When mature, this plant can send up a tall flowering spike adorned with yellow-orange blooms that emerge from reddish buds. Following the blooming period, the central rosette will die, making way for new offsets that grow at the base.
About the genus
Agave consists of either perennial or monocarpic succulents that develop rosettes of typically stiff, thick, spiny leaves. The plants produce funnel-shaped flowers in racemes or panicles that often exceed the height of the rosettes.
Growing conditions
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil type
- Chalk, Loam, Sand
- Soil pH
- Alkaline, Neutral
- Soil moisture
- Well-drained
- Aspect
- South-facing
- Exposure
- Exposed, Sheltered
- UK hardiness
- H3
Plant details
- Plant type
- Cactus Succulent, Conservatory Greenhouse
- Habit
- Clump forming
- Foliage
- Evergreen
- Height
- 1-1.5 metres
- Spread
- 1-1.5 metres
- Time to full height
- 10-20 years
- Suggested uses
- City and courtyard gardens, Coastal, Cottage and informal garden, Gravel garden, Patio and container plants, Sub-tropical
- Toxicity
- Skin irritant. Wear gloves and other protective equipment when handling. Pets (dogs, cats): harmful if eaten. For further information and contact numbers regarding pets, see the HTA guide to potentially harmful plants
Care notes
- Cultivation
- Grow in free draining soil or cactus compost, water freely when in growth and apply a dilute, liquid fertiliser 3 or 4 times during the growing season. May be hardy to -8°C if kept dry over winter, provide winter protection or overwinter in a greenhouse or conservatory. See hardy cacti and succulent cultivation for more advice
- Pruning
- No pruning required
- Propagation
- Propagate by seed, or by removing offsets in spring or autumn
- Pest resistance
- May be susceptible to scale insects
- Disease resistance
- Generally disease-free