Doesn’t everyone want a plant with a sharky grin in their gardens? I know I do, and Agave gentryi ‘Jaws’ obliges with half-inch-long thorns that leave shadowy “teeth marks” on each emerald-green leaf as it unfurls.

I planted a 5-gallon ‘Jaws’ agave last summer in a bottomless planter (a rusty metal tractor rim, actually) in my front courtyard garden, and it has already doubled in size. This spot receives no regular irrigation and gets a good dose of the Death Star in the summer, so I do give it a drink of water about once every two weeks in the summer. I refrain from watering my agaves in the winter unless it’s exceptionally dry, and then only about once a month. ‘Jaws’ can handle the cold (it’s hardy to zone 7b), but cold and wet can lead to rot. Good drainage is essential, and a gravel mulch helps with that.

See that little sprig of clover that’s sprung up at the base of the agave? Smart survival strategy, like a remora! No way am I going to reach in there to pull it out.

I love this agave for its wicked teeth and deep-green color, truly an eye-catching combination. Greg Starr, in his book Agaves, says ‘Jaws’ will grow to a height of 3-4 feet and 5-6 feet across, similar to the size of my ‘Whale’s Tongue’ (A. ovatifolia). It’s also slow to offset, another feature I prefer since I don’t fancy having to dig out colonizing agave pups all the time.

So, warm-climate gardeners, are you ready to invite a shark into your garden?

Note: My Plant This posts are written primarily for gardeners in central Texas. The plants I recommend are ones I’ve grown myself and have direct experience with. I wish I could provide more information about how these plants might perform in other parts of the country, but gardening knowledge is local. Consider checking your local online gardening forums to see if a particular plant might work in your region.

All material © 2006-2012 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

I confess: I used to be disdainful of Mexican heather (Cuphea hyssopifolia), that sturdy, prolifically blooming sub-shrub offered on the summer-color tables at the big-box stores and plugged into many a planter at local shopping centers. I often saw plants that were leggy and a bit sun-crisped. But Mexican heather is so darned eager to please that it finally won me over.

I inherited a single plant with the house, and I ignored it, expecting that the first freeze that year would take it out. It’s often sold as an annual here in Austin, and experts differ on whether it’s safely a zone 9 or zone 8 plant. I thought it likely that it would be an annual for me. But then it came back the next year, and the next, and even after our really cold winter in 2011.

And then it spread out so neatly (about 15 inches wide and 12 inches tall) beneath a ‘Twinkle Pink’ cuphea and a potted ‘Color Guard’ yucca and bloomed so prettily all spring, summer, and fall. Heck, why had I given it the cold shoulder? I no longer remember. All I know is that I planted a few more in the fall and look forward to more purple blooms next year.

If you decide to carpet a portion of your garden with Mexican heather too, I suggest waiting until spring to plant unless you live in a frost-free zone. Warm-climate gardeners in zone 8 can expect it to return most years, especially with our increasingly warm winters. Farther north I’d consider it an annual. But it loves the heat and thrives in my part-sun garden, blooming nonstop spring through fall. That makes it a winner in my book.

Note: My Plant This posts are written primarily for gardeners in central Texas. The plants I recommend are ones I’ve grown myself and have direct experience with. I wish I could provide more information about how these plants might perform in other parts of the country, but gardening knowledge is local. Consider checking your local online gardening forums to see if a particular plant might work in your region.

All material © 2006-2012 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Does the ubiquitous, blonde-maned Mexican feathergrass have a worthy rival at last? I’m beginning to think so. ‘Blonde Ambition’ grama (Bouteloua gracilis ‘Blonde Ambition’), a statuesque cultivar of our native blue grama, is a bunching, blue-green grass that grows to about 12 inches tall and wide. In late summer it blooms on 18-to-24-inch stems—a fireworks-like explosion of pale, comb-shaped flowers with a bent appearance, held as they are on one side of the bloom stem, like flirtatiously winking eyelashes.

Tolerant of hot, dry sites and also cold winters, ‘Blonde Ambition’ grama is adaptable across a wide range of the country. Here in Austin it’ll accept full sun or partial shade, but more sun leads to a fuller shape and better bloom. Planted en masse, it makes a shaggy carpet that can take the place of lawn grass, with a lot less water and no mowing required. One cut-back in late winter is all it requires.

Cosmo wants to know why we aren’t growing more ‘Blonde Ambition’ grama. Well, maybe because it hasn’t been as easy to find in nurseries as Mexican feathergrass. But that’s changing. I found my three plants at The Great Outdoors a year ago.

I’m sure other nurseries are carrying it now too, especially since it’s getting star treatment by designers like Mark Word, who planted a long line of ‘Blonde Ambition’ grama along a wall at El Monumento.

Farewell to High Country Gardens
Plantsman David Salman of mail-order nursery High Country Gardens in Santa Fe, New Mexico, discovered and introduced ‘Blonde Ambition’ grama to the nursery trade. David is a great guy who’s been generous to me over the years with plants to trial (agastaches in particular) and with photos of xeric groundcovers when I needed images for my upcoming book. High Country has for 19 years been an important resource for gardeners of xeric (dry-loving) plants, and so I was saddened to learn last week that High Country has closed. The plant catalog and greenhouses are no longer in operation. David announced on his website that he closed because sales were down for four years due to the bad economy, ongoing drought, and wildfires in New Mexico.

Gardeners in central Texas understand the pain of extreme drought and wildfires, and how these twin natural disasters impact regional gardening habits—or even the desire to garden. More than ever we need plants of the sort that High Country promoted. Its closure is a real loss.

Note: My Plant This posts are written primarily for gardeners in central Texas. The plants I recommend are ones I’ve grown myself and have direct experience with. I wish I could provide more information about how these plants might perform in other parts of the country, but gardening knowledge is local. Consider checking your local online gardening forums to see if a particular plant might work in your region.

All material © 2006-2012 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.