Agave ‘Queen of White Thread’

Agave filifera ssp. schidigera ‘Shira ito no Ohi’. Dagger-leaf rosette catches light with white threads, glows through yellow margins. Great in pots, gritty soil. Showy flowerstalk appears after many years. Solitary.
height 8–12in
width 1–2ft
tolerates Cold, Drought, Heat, Pots, Neglect, Wind
water
needs		 Low
water
info		 Agave are extremely drought tolerant, but this one will do best with some supplemental summer irrigation.
hardy
to		 17F
exposure Full Sun – Part Shade
indoor
outdoor		 Outdoor
origin Hybrid
california
native		 No
sunset
zones		 7–9, 11–24

Sunset Zones Map

Outdoor Exposure Guide

OUTDOOR EXPOSURE GUIDE

Full Sun
Six or more hours of sun beams directly landing on the plant's leaves.

Part Shade
Three to five hours of sun beams directly landing on the plant's leaves.

Part Sun
One to two hours of sun beams directly landing on the plants leaves.

Full Shade
The plant is never fully lit by sun beams, but is in a bright spot or has dappled sunbeams playing over the leaves throughout the day.

Deep Shade
The plant never has dappled light on the leaves, and is in a place that feels dim, even on a nice sunny day.

SUNSET ZONES MAP

Growing Notes

Most agave are monocarpic, meaning that a head will grow larger and larger over time, building up energy, then send off a spectacular flower and afterward decline and die.
Take care when pruning or removing agave, as many have a toxic sap that causes inflammation and rashing. Removing spent agave heads can also be tricky as they are often ringed with other armed agave. If you like the look of agave, but are threatened by the terminal spikes they can be removed. It’s easiest to cut these off when they are coming out of the rosette as you’ll be able to prune the thorns off many layers of leaves at one time.
You can ‘pineapple’ your agave, by removing the lowest leaves. This is best started while it is out of the nursery can, but before planting, when you can access leaves from the bottom. This gives the plant a short trunk, textured similar to many palms, and allows you to get under the plant for weeding or removing pups.
Agave, even very large ones, are surprisingly well suited to pot culture. Agave that would normally be ten feet in the ground tend to settle into even small pots and stay in harmonious balance. Every few years, if they start to stall, you can remove them and trim back a third of the roots and remove any pups. Sometimes they get very root bound and it can be beneficial to bottom water, setting them in a saucer of water for a day.

Special Interest

At end of life this agave has a ten foot redish flower spike with green flowers. Such a big flower on such a small plant, wow!