11/07/2024
November Plant Highlight: ×Mangave ‘Silver Fox’
A cross between a Manfreda and an Agave is known as a ×Mangave, with the multiplication sign at the beginning serving as an indication that it is not a true genus, but rather a hybrid between two genera, its name being a combination of the two actual genera involved. One of the reasons for making hybrids between a Manfreda and an Agave is the desire to come up with a plant that has the sculptural solidity of the latter, along with the purple spots that can be found in the former. Even when the purple spots are only faintly present, the plants may retain an attractive purplish tinge.
×Mangave ‘Silver Fox’ is one of the ×Mangave crosses with only a faint trace of spotting, but it has a beautiful silvery-bluish leaf color with a hint of purple. It is a cross between ×Mangave ‘Blood Spot’, a compact plant with prominent purple spotting, and Agave pablocarrilloi, a larger bluish plant from the Mexican state of Colima. The resulting hybrid has rosettes of elegantly arching toothy-edged leaves, initially single-headed, but eventually offsetting to form a small clump of heads.
×Mangave ‘Silver Fox’ is not a difficult plant to grow if provided with good drainage and watered occasionally during the summer months (this is important in Mediterranean=climate regions like California, where little or no rainfall comes in the summer). It does well in full sun or in dappled sun, and it can take overnight dips below freezing in the winter. However, temperatures below 27° F (-3° C) should be avoided, as well as sustained freezes.
Read more about this month's plant highlight here: https://www.ruthbancroftgarden.org/plants/xmangave-silver-fox-2/
