gardeners corner - subject 'name of agave like plant'

name of agave like plant

updated tue 17 jul 07

Cali Doxiadis on tue 17 jul 07

Last Fall, on a visit to Serre de la Madonne on the Riviera, I was given so=
me tiny rosettes produced in large quantities by an Agave like succulent. =
They are growing well in pots here now, but the name, which I'd written in =
pencil on the paper bag containing them is no longer readable. The first 3=
letters look like FUZ, though that's only a guess. Any ideas?

Cali Doxiadis
Corfu, Greece

david feix on tue 17 jul 07

gill.cei on tue 17 jul 07

Furcrea something? Very similar to Agaves, usually with swollen stem bases=
.

Gill Pound
Nr Carcassonne
France
Last Fall, on a visit to Serre de la Madonne on the Riviera, I was given so=
me tiny rosettes produced in large quantities by an Agave like succulent. =
They are growing well in pots here now, but the name, which I'd written in =
pencil on the paper bag containing them is no longer readable. The first 3=
letters look like FUZ, though that's only a guess. Any ideas?

Cali Doxiadis
Corfu, Greece

Cali Doxiadis on tue 17 jul 07

Thank you, Gill... that's it! Any advice from your area?

Cali
AN PLANTS
Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 9:53 AM
Subject: Re: Name of Agave like plant

Furcrea something? Very similar to Agaves, usually with swollen stem bases=
.

Gill Pound
Nr Carcassonne
France
Last Fall, on a visit to Serre de la Madonne on the Riviera, I was given so=
me tiny rosettes produced in large quantities by an Agave like succulent. =
They are growing well in pots here now, but the name, which I'd written in =
pencil on the paper bag containing them is no longer readable. The first 3=
letters look like FUZ, though that's only a guess. Any ideas?

Cali Doxiadis
Corfu, Greece

__________ NOD32 2399 (20070714) Information __________

This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system.
http://www.nod32.com

gill.cei on tue 17 jul 07

I have F bedinghausii in a pot, it goes into a cold greenhouse in the winte=
r, thus has withstood -3/4=B0C but when very dry. The Mary & Gary Irish bo=
ok suggests that all Furcreas are tender but I shall have to try mine outsi=
de soon as it's outgrowing the pot, full sun and perfect drainage I guess.

Gill
t-plants@ucdavis.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 9:40 AM
Subject: Re: Name of Agave like plant

Thank you, Gill... that's it! Any advice from your area?

Cali
AN PLANTS
Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 9:53 AM
Subject: Re: Name of Agave like plant

Furcrea something? Very similar to Agaves, usually with swollen stem bases=
.

Gill Pound
Nr Carcassonne
France
Last Fall, on a visit to Serre de la Madonne on the Riviera, I was given so=
me tiny rosettes produced in large quantities by an Agave like succulent. =
They are growing well in pots here now, but the name, which I'd written in =
pencil on the paper bag containing them is no longer readable. The first 3=
letters look like FUZ, though that's only a guess. Any ideas?

Cali Doxiadis
Corfu, Greece

__________ NOD32 2399 (20070714) Information __________

This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system.
http://www.nod32.com

Cali Doxiadis on tue 17 jul 07

david feix on tue 17 jul 07

Not all of the Furcrea species are super tender to
frost, and can be grown here in the milder parts of
San Francisco Bay Area with siting against a warm west
or south facing wall under an overhang. I wish I knew
the species better, as there was a rather large leafed
deep green species that I grew up with in Burlingame,
that had never bloomed, and I am almost sure that it
is the same species I now see in a client's garden up
in the Oakland Hills that was originally planted by
Roger Raiche and David McCrory of Planet Horticulture,
and is now 8 foot tall by across, and has obviously
withstood some frosts in the past, although I don't
think it was there in the last bad freeze of 1998.

There is a striped/variegated species with the
cultivar name medio picta which is very popular as a
specimen container plant in southeast
Asia/Malaysian/Indonesian gardens, and is featured in
Made Wijaya's book, in the chapter on White Gardens.
This one is also seen in California, where it does
need some protection from more than a degree or two of
frost. Furcrea does not need full hot sun to do well,
and in fact will grow very well in bright shade or
dappled shade if it is warm and not too wet in winter.
They are also very amenable to being container grown
for long periods, so can be moved under the eave of a
house roof with cold weather.

--- Cali Doxiadis wrote:

david feix on tue 17 jul 07

Hello Cali,
I am surprised that anyone remembers my visit to
Greece and especially Crete, which I would love to
visit again, time and money permitting. I am trying
to persuade Annie Hayes, the owner of Annie's Annuals
and Perennials Nursery here in Richmond, Ca. to join
me, as she has never been back to Greece herself, and
still speaks Greek, as well as being a fellow plant
geek, so it would be great to travel to Greece with
her. Corfu would obviously be a great place to see as
well, as I have really only seen slices of Crete and
Santorini.

I don't see the Blekinships posting anymore here on
the Medit Plants Forum, and would love it if you
passed on my fond regards. I had a wonderful visit
with them in their garden in Crete, and an excellent
meal in the nearby coastal town, the name of which I
don't recall. It seemed a very romantic place to
retire to, a small villa nestled into the orange
groves in Crete, with views towards snow capped
mountains that still had snow visible in mid May, when
I was passing through. I remember how the Greeks were
such a friendly breath of fresh air after the
relatively closed off culture of the Saudis in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia, and I could have easily spent all summer
just in Crete, it was lovely.

It was nice to get some exposure to native Greek
plants and culture, and find that Annie's Annuals
was/is growing so many Greek plants to replicate the
experience. So many blend well with our native
California species, yet extend the plant palette and
bloom season, and are often less attractive to deer,
gophers and rabbits than our own natives. I've had to
cover large plantings of Aeonium arboreum 'Swartzkop',
Echeveria subrigida and Setcreasia pallida with bird
netting to keep the deer at bay, while the nearby
Sideritis syriaca is untouched, as is of course the
Euphorbia dendroides.

I hope the summer is going well for you in Corfu, it
has been lovely here in Berkeley, with lots of new
gardens going in, and enough outings and garden tours
and parties in the gardens to keep it interesting.
Especially nice has been back to back tours of the
Ruth Bancroft Garden, finally a tour of Roger Raiches
new garden up in Calistoga, and getting to know the
clients with the Brandon Tyson designed garden on
Euclid Ave here in Berkeley, which has a large
transplanted mature palm that came out of the famous
Inga Hoffman's garden in San Leandro. I think there
will be a story about this in a future issue of
Pacific Horticulture, if I can keep my promises to
Richard Turner, the editor. Also in store for this
September, we will be touring Inga Hoffman's garden in
San Leandro under the auspices of the SF Bromeliad
Society, to see all her mature palms and wonderful
seed collected plants from South America, and her new
passion, bromeliads!

This is one of the great advantages of living here in
the San Francisco Bay Area; there are so many great
designers and horticulturists in the area, and we
actually live close enough that we can easily visit.
Plus it is an honor to have the company of great
luminaries such as Ruth Bancroft herself, who actually
joined us for a tour of all the gardens on the most
recent Hortisexuals Garden Tour, and must be at least
99 years of age!

Best,
David Feix
--- Cali Doxiadis wrote: