Accent · Sonoran native
Palmer's Agave
Agave palmeri · Asparagaceae (Agavoideae)
Also called: Palmer Agave, Palmer's Century Plant
Palmer's Agave (Agave palmeri) is a very low-water accent native to the Sonoran Desert region well suited to Tucson and the low desert. It thrives in full sun.
Palmer's Agave at a glance
- Water use
- Very Low (established)
- Sun
- Full sun; tolerates reflected heat and also performs in light/part shade.
- Mature size
- 2-4 ft H x 3-5 ft W (rosette); flower stalk 12-20 ft H
- Growth rate
- Slow; usually solitary or sparingly offsetting; flowers at roughly 15-25+ years (monocarpic).
- Bloom
- Pale green to yellow-green, tinged reddish/purple in bud, Summer (roughly June-August), with night-opening, musky-scented flowers on a tall paniculate stalk.
- Cold hardiness
- Cold hardy to about 0-10 F (USDA zones 7b-10); one of the more cold-tolerant agaves due to its higher-elevation native range.
- Soil
- Well-drained rocky, gravelly, or sandy soils including caliche and decomposed granite; very tolerant of lean soils. Requires good drainage.
- Native range
- Sky Island grasslands and oak woodlands of southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and northern Sonora/Chihuahua, Mexico, typically 3,000-6,500 ft elevation.
- Best used as
- Specimen/accent plant, Wildlife/pollinator and bat gardens, Xeriscape and revegetation, Rock gardens, Slope and erosion plantings
- Wildlife
- A keystone nectar plant for the migratory endangered lesser long-nosed bat; night-blooming flowers also feed Mexican long-tongued bats, hawkmoths, hummingbirds, and bees along the agave 'nectar corridor.'
- Toxicity
- Sap (saponins/calcium oxalate) irritates skin and is toxic if ingested by pets; rigid marginal teeth and a stout, very sharp terminal spine make placement away from walkways important.
How to grow Palmer's Agave in Tucson & the low desert
Watering
Highly drought tolerant once established; needs little to no supplemental irrigation in Tucson—an occasional deep monthly soak in extreme summer heat is plenty. Overwatering causes rot. No winter water.
Fertilizer & nutrients
Not required; grows well in unamended native soil. Skip fertilizer to maintain a compact, firm rosette.
Pruning & care
Remove dead or frost-damaged leaves and the spent flower stalk only. Leave the terminal spine and marginal teeth intact. Rosette dies after flowering.
Notes
A solitary, symmetrical gray-green to bluish rosette with conspicuous white bud imprints and reddish-brown marginal teeth, native to Arizona's Sky Islands. Ecologically important as a primary food source for endangered nectar-feeding bats. Very cold- and drought-hardy; an excellent low-water Tucson accent.
Sources: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (Genus Agave); AMWUA 'Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert'; University of Arizona Cooperative Extension; U.S. Forest Service / Sky Island Alliance (lesser long-nosed bat pollination)