Agave Cream Spike Cluster

* Ship Bare root (without pot and soil) Pot size is only notated for your reference. * If you are going plant your cactus or succulent in a pot, have it prepared beforehand with cactus mix soil (recommended), then water lightly. *If you going to plant it into the ground, ensure proper drainage *We Only ship Priority to ensure your Succulents plant will take between 2 to 3 days to arrive, we are not responsible for any the shipping carriers are delays. * We try to ship our succulent plants as soon as we get the order is customer responsibility to be aware of the plant arrival also customers will get a notification by email. If the customer wants to delay or change the day of the shipment please contact us as soon as possible. *We take great care in the packaging of your plants, but unfortunately the same cannot always be said in how they are handled once they leave us .*Is the customer responsibility to purchase a (Heat pack) if the Succulent plant is ship to a cold area, we usually recommended it if the whether is 35* or lower, If you are purchasing a large succulent plant please make sure you buy enough heat pack to cover the plant (1 heat pack every 12") We are not responsible for damages to the Succulent plant if is NOT enough coverage of the heat pack, and if is delay by USPS, the heat only will keep the box warm for 72 hours.

Habit and Cultural Information Category: Succulent Family: Agavaceae (now Asparagaceae) Origin: Mexico (North America) Evergreen: Yes Variegated Foliage: Yes Bloomtime: Infrequent Synonyms: [A. parryi minima variegata, A. applanata cv.] Height: <1 foot Width: <1 foot Exposure: Sun or Shade Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs Winter Hardiness: 15-20° F May be Poisonous (More Info): Yes Agave 'Cream Spike' (Cream Spike Agave) - A small rosette-forming succulent that grows to only 4 inches tall by about 6 inches wide with olive green leaves margined with cream-colored edges and dark brown spines. The margins occasionally have a seasonal slight flush of red at the leaf tip and base. It grows well in light shade or full coastal sun but may require protection in hotter climates. Plant in a well-drained soil and irrigated little to occasionally. Though good hardiness information on this cultivar has not been fully documented it has been winter hardy unprotected in Santa Barbara and will likely tolerate temperatures down to at least 15 degrees F. It is a great small container plant. Our plants came from the plant collection of Alice Waidhofer of Stockton, CA. In this collection there was an near identical plant labeled Agave patonii 'Dwarf Variegata'. These plants and other similar cultivars are also sometimes labeled with names such Agave minima 'Variegata', Agave patonii marginata or 'Alba Marginata' but all such names are invalid due to rules of nomenclature - cultivars described after 1959 cannot have Latinized cultivar names. The late Rick Nowakowski of Natures Curiosity Shop told us that he grew this plant since the late 1980's and indicated that he first received it as Agave patonii marginata from Japan but the actual introduction date and original breeder has not been determined. Agave patonii has more recently been subsumed into Agave parryi but there are many that don't believe this plant to be a cultivar of Agave parryi; Brian Kemble at the Ruth Bancroft Garden suggests it may be a cultivar of Agave applanata and this suggestion seems quite plausible to us. Noted agavephile Greg Starr agrees and has taken to list this plant as a cultivar of this species. Until such time as we can retrace its origins we have decided to call this beauty Agave 'Cream Spike'. Our thanks to John Trager for suggesting this name and to Tony Avent, who after receiving this plant from us, sent it to a micro propagation laboratory, enabling us to sell the plant several years earlier than we had anticipated. Unfortunately in more recent years this plant has suffered from Cochineal scale infestations. This white tufted insect is stationary and permanently mars the leaves with light yellow spots and where is feeding and it has been so difficult to completely control that we have discontinued producing it. Fortunately the similar plant, which we now list under the name Agave patonii 'Alba Marginata' has not been so effected and so we are now only growing it. The information provided on this page is based on research we have conducted about this plant in our nursery's library, from what we have found about it on reliable online sources, as well as from observations in our nursery of crops of this plant as well as of plants growing in the nursery's garden and those in other gardens. We will also incorporate comments received from others and welcome getting feedback from anyone who may have additional information, particularly if it includes cultural information that would aid others in growing Agave 'Cream Spike'