Tough agaves are Florida favorites

Florida gardeners like succulent, drought-tolerant plants because they need no irrigation after establishment, are generally low maintenance and are pest- and disease-resistant. Plant collectors covet cacti, agaves and yuccas for their striking foliage, thick stiff leaves, seasonal flowers and sometimes edible fruit. Unfortunately, this winter’s hard freezes killed many tropical and subtropical succulents to the ground. Many may resprout from the stems or roots.

The Agave family of Sentry or Century plants has about 200 species in the Agave genus. Only one, Agave dicipiens, or False Sisal, is considered a Florida native because it was growing in coastal South Florida, zone 10B, before European settlement. Since it occurs naturally nowhere else in the world, it is endemic to Florida. This rarity grows in marshes, on hummocks rising just above sea level. It can be found in the Everglades and in cultivated gardens.