Winter Survivors

[westfork]

We have enough days in the 60s & 70s to give an indication of which agaves planted in the arid berm last year are dying and which are holding (so far).
Most of the winter was very mellow but we did get below -22f (-30C) a time or two and had a daytime high of -10f (-23C). Also rapid swings such as the recent plunge from 74f to 3f in just over a day. It was an unusually wet winter though. I did cover briefly a few times during freaky winter rain and ahead of a heavy snow (which was a mistake).

Both of the utahensis v. kaibabensis look great!

A. utahensis v. kaibabensis Mar 3 2024

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Also both parryi from Williams,AZ took it well

A. parryi from Williams, AZ Mar 5, 2024

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Others that look undamaged for now are:
A. neomexicana Cloudcroft,NM
A. gracilipes Queen,NM
A. glomeruliflora had damage last summer but looks better now than then.

These are the ones that are mostly OK but have a few spots or light pigment:
A. havardiana Glass Mtns
A. lechuguilla x A. palmeri
A. mckelveyana
A. parryi x A. neomexicana Deep Blue

It is early yet so many of the above may fall victim to a moist spring.
Not listing the extensive casualty list yet until we see what grows out of the damage.

[westfork]

And since they are considered agaves now - The manfreda from northern sources we have scattered around the yard took winter very well. Some didn't even go deciduous. Second winter for most of them. They are remarkably durable (if given enough water to establish) despite their delicate appearance.

[jnewmark]

And since they are considered agaves now - The manfreda from northern sources we have scattered around the yard took winter very well. Some didn't even go deciduous. Second winter for most of them. They are remarkably durable (if given enough water to establish) despite their delicate appearance.

What Manfreda ones are you trying ? My Ovatifolia rotted this year, after 5 years in the ground and protected in Winter. The solid week of rain we had in January didn't help matters. Gracilipes is doing ok, and some hardy, tree like Yuccas made it through their first Winter, with protection. I've pretty much given up on Agaves .

[Meangreen94z]

How did your Agave potrerana do? Did you pull it after that brief initial freeze? They seem to struggle more with our summer weather than winter . I recently found a 5–10 gallon size in addition to the 2 small survivors.

[westfork]

What Manfreda ones are you trying ? My Ovatifolia rotted this year, after 5 years in the ground and protected in Winter. The solid week of rain we had in January didn't help matters. Gracilipes is doing ok, and some hardy, tree like Yuccas made it through their first Winter, with protection. I've pretty much given up on Agaves .

In 2022 I planted Manfreda virginica from three populations along the north end of its native range. Central Missouri, Indiana, and Kentucky. I keep changing my mind on which is my favorite. Probably all the seed produced is mixed between them anyway. I have some potted Manfreda maculosa 'Hondo Robusto' I will try to cross with the virginica.

Yes, agaves are one of the more challenging plants to grow outside their range. I am also trying some trunking yuccas, but young yuccas in pots do not do well for me. But put them in the ground and they explode with growth. But I do take grief for having them in the garden since locally our native yucca glauca is considered a pest. A while back a rancher friend from South Dakota stopped by and was admiring the cactus and agaves. Then his facial expression turned sour and he said "Lloyd, do you know there is a yucca in there?".

[westfork]

How did your Agave potrerana do? Did you pull it after that brief initial freeze? They seem to struggle more with our summer weather than winter . I recently found a 5–10 gallon size in addition to the 2 small survivors.

Last summer the potrerana in the ground did better than the one in the pot. I didn't dig it up and bring it in until the temperatures were hitting single digits. Still looks good sitting bare root in the garage. Just debating when to put it back outside.

But somebody had better stop me from experimenting with the what ifs. Now I am messing around with various ecephalartos, dioons, zamias, and even some macrozamia communis. Mostly to be potted and brought inside a few months each winter, but as good as my in ground sabal minors look right now, you never know.

[Gafoto]

How did your Agave potrerana do? Did you pull it after that brief initial freeze? They seem to struggle more with our summer weather than winter . I recently found a 5–10 gallon size in addition to the 2 small survivors.

Mine from PDN has about 2 leaves left (others were rotting and got amputated. The core is still solid but it’s been historically wet here so my hopes aren’t high. It handled 11 degrees without turning into total mush, which is impressive.

[Gafoto]

Figured I’d just tack onto this thread since we’re in spring here. Some actual sun can be seen and I doubt we’ll see more than a few flakes.

Winter fatalities:

Agave stricta
Agave striata
Agave striata ssp. falcata
Agave parryi Sierrita Mountains seedling
Agave parryi v. huachucensis seedling
Agave lophantha x ‘Logan Calhoun’
Agave utahensis v. nevadensis (wet/shady site)
Agave lophantha ‘Multigreen’
Agave lophantha ‘Splendida’
Mangave ‘Falling Waters’ Nuked to a crisp.

Probably dead:

Agave palmeri
Agave ‘Sharkskin’
Agave montana (unprotected)
Agave bracteosa
Agave funkiana
Mangave ‘Bad Hair Day’ (Burned to the ground but may be semi alive?)

Major damage but alive:

Agave bracteosa ‘Daddy Longlegs’
Agave chrysantha (Crown King, AZ)
Agave ‘Crazy Horse’
Agave asperrima
Agave utahensis v. nevadensis (another shadyish site, lost some leaves)
Agave lechuguilla
Agave potrerana. Lost almost all outer leaves.

Winners of winter 2024:

Agave parryi. All of these survived, even the tiny plants. All varieties except for those noted above. Neomexicana oddly took the most damage, but just a leaf or two at the bottoms. Even their emerging pups mostly made it.
Agave utahensis. 4 different plants grown from seed survived with only slight damage. Even ones in marginal locations. “Large” plants were essentially untouched.
Agave havardiana. One plant is a Davis Mountains plant, the other three look like it. All survived with some lower leaf damage. Covered one but not the others. Didn’t seem to make a difference in damage, oddly.
Agave ‘Green Goblet’ Some frost damage despite being fully covered from moisture. Not optimistic about this plant without winter protection.
Agave montana. Two survived with moisture protection. One got frost damage, the other is nearly immaculate. Further experimentation needed, but moisture protection is likely needed in perpetuity.
Agave protoamericana x salmiana. Almost immaculate with an overhead shelter. Will try one of these in the future with no cover but curious to see how big it gets here.
Agave ovatifolia ‘Frosty Blue’ Happy as a clam with a cover. Very minimal damage.
Agave funkiana. One looks like it got rot in the core and will slowly die. The other got one badly rotten leaf but the rest of it almost looks untouched. Significantly hardier than lophantha, which is surprising.
Agave toumeyana v. bella. No damage at all to two different plants.
Agave utahensis x parryi v. neomexicana. A little damage due to a difficult site but this was expected.
Agave mckelveyana. Lost some lower leaves but looks ok and some emerging pups survived even.

We had an above average winter as far as moisture goes but ultimately a low of 11 degrees so not notably cold. All plants with moisture protection did get some snow and rain on them, but much less than other plants.

[Gafoto]

‘Crazy Horse’ has seen better days:

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Bracteosa ‘Daddy Longlegs’ lost some leaves and looks terrible but did well for a variegate. It’s smaller non-variegated sibling rotted away.

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This was a Texas sourced funkiana. Had to trim an inner leaf but should come back strong. Looking forward to trying more of these.

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Montana without protection. It didn’t love winter.

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[westfork]

Updating this after a month now that we know better how the agaves are doing. They may not appreciate our spring weather which is our windy season. Today constant high winds gusting up to 55 mph with 24% relative humidity. Full intense sun starting at sunrise and we are under a red flag fire warning.

These were all planted last year so are very small yet. We are in the Iowa / South Dakota / Minnesota border area. Still five weeks until our average last freeze, but other than extreme spring winds the weather should be very moderate.

Reviewing the winter - Most of the winter was very mellow but we did get below -22f (-30C) a time or two and had a daytime high of -10f (-23C). Also rapid swings such as the plunge from 74f to 3f in just over a day. It was an unusually wet winter though. I did cover briefly a few times during freaky winter rain and ahead of a heavy snow (which was a mistake).

Clear winners were all the A. utahensis v. kaibabensis:


and all the A. parryi from William, AZ 8200':


All the manmade hybrid A. parryi x A. neomexicana Deep Blue seem OK. The color seems "off" but they have a different color anyway. I expected these to do well as I have read great survival reports from down in Kansas City that has significantly more moisture than we do:


As for the natural hybrids, the A. gracilipes from Queen, NM did well as did the A. glomeruliflora (the damage was from last summer when it sunburned and dried out too far before getting established).




One of the A. neomexicana from Cloudcroft NM 8000' did well, the other not so much. Possibly too hot and dry when planted:


The A. mckelveyana and the A. lechuguilla x A. palmeri have substantial damage but may pull through:




Ones that are looking really beat up are the A. havardiana Glass Mtn, A. havardiana crosses, and A. Utahensis x A. parryi.

[jnewmark]

Looks like many pulled through, even with more than usual Winter moisture. Nice !

[Gafoto]

It’s always satisfying to see things pull through and start growing again!

Despite losing all but one leaf ‘Crazy Horse’ is growing like a son of a gun:

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‘Sharkskin’ may have also survived despite rot at the base of almost every leaf:

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They look….a little rough but alive! These two had no winter protection. A funkiana I thought was in the clear rotted off at the base but the other is looking good. The weather has finally turned to be decently warm and rather dry so rot doesn’t have a chance to really get moving.