Furcraea longaeva

Behold the mighty heavyweight Furcraea longaeva – a plant that holds the record for having the tallest recorded flowering inflorescence – upwards of 40 feet! Yours will probably not get quite as tall, but I entreat you to try for it! It’s quite a gentle giant, with none of the prickle & poke of its Agave cousins. And it forms soft, beautiful blue-green rosettes in the garden, that eventually form a trunk to 6’, & ultimately spike into a most impressive tower of flowers, with pendulous branches, & many, many white flowers with petals cloaked in white velveteen. These persist for months, after which the plant produces multitudes of little plantlets off of the stems, which drop to form new plants before the big mommy giant passes away. Spectacular! Protect from hard frosts. From central Mexico. Provide good drainage if your soil is heavy clay.

Claire Woods