While admiring the various agaves I have planted around my garden on a 85 degree February day, it became quit noticeable that the one I buy the most is Agave ‘Blue Glow.’ To me, it really is the perfect agave. The blue-grey foliage edged in maroon growing on a beautifully symmetrical 2′ x 3′ solitary rosette just can’t be beat.
Yes, I understand there are many agaves that could fit under that same description. But when you throw in the fact that Agave ‘Blue Glow’ doesn’t pup profusely, nor does it send out running suckers, that gives it a leg up on the competition. There are some gorgeous agaves that can rival Agave ‘Blue Glow,’ but I personally grow tired of cutting out the suckers or runners from those plants. Another positive some might find is that Agave ‘Blue Glow’ has no other spines past the colorful terminal spine. Less chances to poke yourself working around them.
Agave ‘Blue Glow’ is a Kelly Griffin hybrid between Agave attenuata and Agave ocahui. While I can see Agave ocahui in this cross, for the life of me I cannot see the Agave attenuata. Either the parent of Agave attenuata was arbitrarily chosen to ward off others trying to make their own Agave ‘Blue Glow’ cross, or Agave attenuata genes just didn’t show up in the cross when it was done. Comparatively, Agave ‘Blue Flame’ is another Agave attenuata hybrid and its genes showed up nicely in it. Agave ‘Blue Flame’ is Agave shawii and Agave attenuata.
Agaves typically flower only once every 15-25 years. You will hear or read about the same for Agave ‘Blue Glow.’ I can tell you, if there is one negative to Agave ‘Blue Glow,’ it is that it grows quickly and flowers at 8-10 years old in a fertilized garden in the ground. This agave below was planted as a 3-gallon plant only four years ago. It is already flowering. Agaves are monocarpic, which means the flowering rosette will die. Almost all agaves will send out pups or suckers, which allows the plant to live on through new rosettes in your garden. As I already stated, Agave ‘Blue Glow’ doesn’t really sucker, and that can also hold true after flowering. I have been able to propagate some after flower and others just die with no suckers. The best way I have found to propagate Agave ‘Blue Glow’ is by waiting for the flower to produce bulbils (tiny plantlets growing right on the flower stalk). Time will tell how many bulbils I will get on this newly flowering Agave ‘Blue Glow’ in my garden.
Here is a plant currently in flower at a friends garden.
Just like in monocarpic palms, the entire growing point becomes the flower. This means the plant can no longer produce leaves to continue its growth. Plus, the plant expends a lot of energy to put out such a large flower.
During the flowering stage, platelets begin to emerge from the agave. Sometimes these can be cut out and rooted.
In gardens, architecturally speaking, agaves are one of the nicest plants you can place. I personally find that Agave ‘Blue Glow’ works great in many settings. It is a strong plant, capable of handling many growing environments. For example, the plants that are in the ground in my garden receive the same mount of water as the palm trees sharing a sprinkler zone.
At a friends garden shown below, he mixes in many Agave ‘Blue Glow’ into his landscape.
This is a nice public planting outside California State University San Marcos.
Agave ‘Blue Glow’ gets its name from the “glow” the leaf margins show when backlit by the sun.
Almost every agave species or hybrid sold nowadays has variegated forms available as well. Agave ‘Blue Glow’ is no different. I currently have five different variegated forms. The most common is a yellow albo-marginated form coined Agave ‘Sun Glow.’ I also have a white albo-marginated form coined Agave ‘Snow Glow’ which is still a small plant and I didn’t get a photo of it.
This is a half-moon Agave ‘Sun Glow’.
The most expensive Agave ‘Blue Glow’ in my collection is this rare mediopicta variegation form.
While my plant is very nice and I am proud of it, it can’t compare to my friends show-quality example of perfect mediopicta variegation.
My personal favorite is this striata variegation Agave ‘Blue Glow’ in my collection.
My newest plant in the collection is this half-moon mediopicta variegation Agave ‘Blue Glow.’
Agave ‘Blue Glow’ will grow much slower in containers. So these rare variegates are planted in pots so I might enjoy them longer before they flower.
For those wondering how cold-hardy Agave ‘Blue Glow’ is, I know it can handle approximately 15 degrees Fahrenheit. However, I have read online accounts of “only minimal leaf damage after clear nights of 9 degrees Fahrenheit.” If you are reading this post, let me know the lowest temperature your Agave ‘Blue Glow’ has been through in the comments area below.
So what do you think? Is Agave ‘Blue Glow’ the perfect agave?
UPDATE: July 18th, 2016
A nice crop of bulbils has formed on my flower stalk. I will let them grow a little larger before pulling off the nicest ones and rooting them out.
Click here to read my blog post on the propagation of agaves that I wrote using these Agave ‘Blue glow’ bulbils above as the subject.
UPDATE: September 2nd, 2016
I took this photograph of my mediopicta variegated Agave ‘Blue Glow’ about 30 minutes before sunset. I love this photo and had to share it in this post.
I love them all! I haven’t seen many varieties of agaves, so these are all beautiful and rare to my eyes. Thanks for showing all the different types. I learned a lot. Ana
I got to your site because my huge, beautiful blue glow is putting up a flower stalk. It is about 12-15 years old in my garden. I live outside Nevada City, Ca.at about 2000 feet. The plant has never suffered any cold damage here, even with temperatures down to 20. I’m hoping I won’t lose it altogether after it blooms.
Thanks Carri for your report these take down to 20 degrees. Amazing this grows for you there. Congrats. For the pups, after flower, cut it off and hope to see some pups. Sometimes it happens.
Thanks! The stalk is now 13 feet high and it still hasn’t started blooming! It looks kind of crazy.
amazing plant
Bought 4 agave blue glows for sidewalk with decorative rock how often should I water I live in the Pasadena area of Ca!!
Once a week when established. They are really good about different periods between waterings as long as the soil is draining. I water mine every 3 days in summer and every 5 in winter.
A favorite of mine as well. I’ve gotten some seedlings to grow, not all of them resemble the original, but a few do. Another near-perfect one (here) is A. vilmoriniana ‘Stained Glass’. The species is too fast but variegation slows it waaaay down. Just right. 🙂
I agree. Vilmoriniana ‘Stained Glass’ is a great one too.
Did you pot any of the Agave ‘Blue glow’ bulbils offsets? I’d like to see some pics to see if they look as good as the mother plant. Thanks.
Yes. Here is the post:
http://www.marriedtoplants.com/succulents/agave-propagation-from-bulbils/
Loved your site. I just bought several Blue Glow and Quadricolor Agaves at a local nursery in Pensacola FL. I have not seen these in landscapes here before so I had to give them a try. My yard has a lot of sand, salt and wind so I am hoping they can handle their new home. I’ll try to keep you updated.
Robert, they should do fine. I have seen both in a landscape in Ft Lauderdale.
I have 2 blue agave flowering, started around 2 months ago, no bulbils yet but one agave has a 2nd smaller flowering stalk. I was wondering how you know what suckers look like and how you separate those?
Suckers come off the plant and look like small versions of the mother. Bulb is are easier to work with on this plant.
I was told I could prolong the life by cutting the flower stalk off as soon as it appears. We have one that flowered and I cut off the flower (after blooming). It is now sending up several new flower stalks. This one blue glow agave now has at least seven flower stalks growing!
Won’t gain you a lot of time. Flowering takes considerable plant resources, so removing the flower helps there but it doesn’t away from the fact the growing point is no more as Agaves monocarpic.
That was my suspicion-
Thanks 🙂
Great post by the way! Very informative.
Great post! Just wanted to share my experience with blue glow sub freezing. I’m in Austin, TX (8b). Last winter we had two separate nights down to 18-19 degrees F. They were covered and certainly survived. However there was some leaf damage (maybe 20% of the plant). Overall, not bad for that low a temp. I would certainly consider it frost hardy. Thanks!
@OG_Agave
Thanks for your feedback!
Marvellous information, and pics! Thank you from Sydney, Australia.
Cheers, Noelene 🌻
Thanks for reading 🙂
I bought two A. Blue Glow, two A. Victoria Reginae and two A. Geminiflora. Love them all. Just can’t wait to put them on the ground. Do you think that A. Victoria Reginae will grow well outdoor (Lisbon, Portugal, mediterranean-atlantic, no frost)??
Excellent website! It worths bookmarking and regular visits. Keep posting! Thanks.
Yes, it will love it there. 🙂
I have a question about watering. I have three Blue Glows in ground above a pool. I took them off the watering station that waters pigmy palms. I am watering them weekly by spraying them from above when the plants are in full shade. Not sure if the water coming from above will be harmful to the plant. I live in Northern CA with many 90+ degree days. Do you think it would be ok to put them on the same watering cycle as the pigmy palms? -I have had a couple of leaves turn black 🙁 on one plant.
Mine are on the same watering schedule as the palms. But my soil is plain DG. So very fast draining.
I have a blue glow agave that produced a stalk early September 2019. I was told that there would be pups up and down the stalk. It’s been 6 months and there aren’t any pups on the stalk. Is this wishful thinking? It looks like there are pups near the base of the stalk, not the base of the plant. Is it time to just remove the plant or does it take awhile for the stalk to produce pups?
Any information will be appreciated.
Mary Ann
Many wont form bulbils on flower stalk. So if it hasn’t by now, I think it’s safe to cut off.
Hi, I live in Scottsdale, AZ and did a full row of my favorite agave, Blue Glow, a year ago (planted in March) in my newly landscaped backyard and the summer sun is baking them. Some are thriving but those with direct sun all day are yellowing for obvious reasons. It’s now the end of July and I am thinking to cover them until cooler weather in October. Is this a good idea? What cover is recommended? I love your article about these beautiful plants and am hoping you’re still replying to these comments all these years later. 🙂
Not sure Tina as my climate is different. I do know they burn in high heat. Even here.
I’ve had a gorgeous Blue Glow agave in my gravel garden here in southern New Hampshire. The first summer, I planted it into the garden. It doubled in size and was quite a challenge to carefully dig up and pot in order to over winter it inside. It performed beautifully inside all winter and has now been back outside still in the pot sitting in the gravel garden. FABULOUS plant and quite the conversation piece here in NH.
I just discovered the blue glow agave while searching for a cold tolerant architectural plant that will be in a hot south facing space in the Pacific Northwest. Fell in love with your favorite striated variegation in your photos above! Where did you get that and do they ship them? Agaves are not sold often in my part of the country and looking for something as specific as that is proving very challenging!
I just bought a blue glow agave and love it but I also have cats who enjoy rubbing themselves against it. I am worried they may poke their eyes with the spikes. Can the spikes be cut off or removed?
Yes, you can cut the spines but the cats will be fine if you don’t. Cats are smart. My cats sit in the window and chew on the spines on my A. Neomexicana and the Hesperaloes.
I have two blue glows in steel window boxes about 4 feet off the ground and we had temps down to 0. I think I might have a warmer micro climate in these window boxes though. They are against a brick house with full south sun all the time. In the box I also have Graptopetalum Paraguayense, Sedeveria Blue elf, prostrate rosemary, Grapto. Cali.sunset and Dudleya. All spent the winter outside. I live in Albuquerque 7b.
In Los Angeles, I enjoyed a Blue Glow for about 8 years before it flowered. I only got one viable plantlet from the flower stalk, and took it with me when I relocated to the Southern California high desert. I had to baby it through three brief snowfalls as a tender new plant. It is doing great, and is about 9″ across now (two years later). This is by far the best agave for a succulent garden because it does not pup. Just be sure to give it about 3′ of space for its mature size. The new one is in a north-facing garden that is mostly shaded in the fall/winter. It seems tolerant of those conditions as well. I think it will just grow a bit more slowly than if it received full sun.