Mangave Lavender Lady

Mangave Lavender Lady is a very decorative succulent plant that is part of a series of original hybrids, resulting from the cross-breeding between Manfreda and Agaves. From the agaves, they display a remarkably architectural evergreen vegetation as well as a very perennial temperament, while they have their unique colours, less sharp spines and faster growth from the Manfreda. This Lavender Lady variety is very compact and has foliage that evolves from finely powdered almond green to dark grey.  Drought-tolerant but not very hardy, it makes a lovely specimen to cultivate in a pot on the patio. In seaside gardens or mild climates, it will thrive in a rock garden. 

Mangave Lavender Lady belongs to the Agavaceae family, now included by botanists in the much larger Asparagaceae family. This plant develops into a rosette of 20 cm (8in) tall and 30 cm (12in) wide, composed of many rigid and succulent leaves. The leaves are short and quite wide, slightly concave, pointed, almost smooth at the edges. Their thick, matte, light green leaves are finely speckled with lavender pink. The leaves gradually become more grey, retaining a fine almost white border. Flowers will appear in favourable climates on mature plants, from August to October. From the centre of the rosette emerges a branched flower stalk bearing small white star-shaped flowers. Mangaves are plants for dry, well-drained soil, capable of withstanding brief frosts of around -3 to -7°C (26.6 to 19.4°F), depending on the variety.  They should be placed in full sun or, at most, partial shade in hot climates. The plant is evergreen.

To create exotic scenes in mild climates, Mangave Lavender Lady can be planted in a rockery, alongside other small agaves such as Agave montana, other differently coloured Mangaves, small agapanthus, or grasses like Carex comans Milk Chocolate or Stipa tenuifolia. Collectors of cacti and other succulent plants can highlight it on the patio or balcony by surrounding it with pots filled with sempervivum.