Agave

Agave plants for sale, the workhorse of low water landscape planting. An agave plant asks for full sun, sharp drainage and almost nothing else, and the range here runs from compact rosettes like Blue Glow and Little Shark up to Agave americana and boxed specimens several feet across. Container sizes go from 3 gallon to 24 inch box.

Agave plant care is mostly restraint. Plant high so the crown sits proud of finished grade, water deeply but rarely, and leave it alone. Most losses come from heavy soil holding water at the root, not from underwatering. Space them at roughly their mature width so each rosette is read on its own, and close the ground between with decomposed granite or landscape rock rather than with more planting. Compare aloe and yucca, or see all nursery plants.

42 agave varieties in stock Compact rosettes to specimens 3 gallon to 24 inch box
Jump to: Products Project Ideas Buying Guide FAQ
Skip to results list

Filters

41 items
Column grid
Column grid

Filter

Need help choosing? See common uses, what pairs with these, or read the buying guide.

Common Uses for Agave

Where a hard edged rosette does more work than a shrub ever will.

Front Yard Focal Point

Front Yard Focal Point

One mature agave placed against a plain wall or a gravel bed carries an entire elevation. Buy the size you want to see; these do not fill in quickly.

Xeriscape and Gravel Beds

Xeriscape and Gravel Beds

Agave is the default structure plant for a low water bed. Space at mature width, close the ground with gravel, and the bed is finished.

Modern and Desert Gardens

Modern and Desert Gardens

Symmetry and hard geometry suit contemporary architecture better than mixed planting. A row of matched rosettes reads as built, not grown.

Containers and Entries

Containers and Entries

Compact varieties hold their shape in a pot for years with almost no attention, which makes them the low maintenance answer beside a door.

Materials and Plants That Pair Well

What goes in alongside these in a finished bed.

Aloe

Aloe

Same drainage and water needs, but flowers in winter when an agave bed has nothing going on.

Yucca & Dasylirion

Yucca & Dasylirion

Finer, spikier texture for vertical accent where an agave would read as a mass.

Decomposed Granite

Decomposed Granite

The standard finish around agave. Holds moisture and keeps the bed clean.

Boulders

Boulders

Set stone first, then plant to it. Scale that planting alone cannot give.

Agave Buying Guide

Pick the right species for your space, understand container sizes, and learn what actually kills an agave.

Agave is sold by container size, not by plant size, and the two are only loosely related. A 3 gallon plant establishes fastest and costs least. A 24 inch box is a specimen with immediate presence and needs equipment to place. Because agave grows slowly, the price gap between them is mostly time, not margin.

Browse the full agave collection, or read on for spacing, siting and the mistakes that cost plants.

Agave at a Glance

TypeMature SizeSpinesBest UseCost
Blue Glow 1-2 ft Soft, red margin Borders, containers, low beds
Blue Flame 2-3 ft Nearly spineless Massing, soft modern planting
Americana 6-10 ft Sharp, hooked Large scale focal, open ground
Sharkskin / Little Shark 2-3 ft Firm terminal Architectural accent, gravel beds
Parryi / Truncata 2 ft Sharp terminal Compact formal groupings
Sizes are typical mature dimensions in ground; container plants take several seasons to reach them. For anything larger than what is listed, request a quote.

What Contractors Know

  • Plant high. Set the crown proud of finished grade and feather gravel up to it. Agave rots at the crown, and burying the base is the single most common way to lose one.
  • Drainage beats schedule. On clay, mound or berm rather than digging a deep hole, which becomes a bathtub. Amend wide and shallow, not deep.
  • Mind the terminal spine. Armed species genuinely injure people beside a walkway or pool deck. Set them back, or specify a soft tipped variety like Blue Flame.
  • Space at mature width. Agave is bought for its silhouette. Planted at shrub spacing the rosettes collide and you lose the form you paid for.
  • Expect the bloom to end it. Agave is monocarpic: it flowers once, sets pups and dies. That is normal, not a failure, and it is why pups are worth keeping.
  • Watch reflected heat. Against a south or west wall the reflected load can scorch even a desert plant in its first summer. Give new stock one season of afternoon shade.

FAQ

At roughly their mature width, so each rosette is read on its own. For a 3 ft species that is about 3 ft clear on all sides, with gravel or decomposed granite closing the ground between.
Deep and infrequent through the first summer or two to establish, then very little. Nearly all losses here come from too much water in heavy soil, not too little.
Many will take light frost without damage, but it is species specific rather than a property of agave in general. Check the individual product page and site tender species under an eave where cold settles less.
Yes. Agave is monocarpic, so it flowers once at maturity and then dies, usually leaving pups around the base. The flower spike can be dramatic and takes months, so it is worth leaving in place.
A 3 gallon establishes quickly and is the value option. A 10 gallon reads as a real plant immediately. A 24 inch box is a specimen and needs a machine to set. For anything larger, request a quote.

Find the Right Agave for Your Project

Browse 42 agave from compact rosettes to boxed specimens, in 3 gallon to 24 inch box sizes.

Shop Agave

Agave plants for sale by the container

Agave plants for sale in 3 gallon to 24 inch box sizes, grown in Southern California and hardened off for full sun. The range covers compact cultivars such as Blue Glow, Little Shark and Sharkskin through to Agave americana at full landscape scale. Every size shows its own live price on the product page.

Agave is the backbone of low water planting in this climate because it asks for so little: full sun, sharp drainage and almost no summer water once established. That is also why it dominates modern and desert garden design, where the plant is doing architectural work rather than filling space.

Agave plant care in plain terms

Agave plant care comes down to restraint. Plant high so the crown sits above finished grade, water deeply but rarely, and resist the urge to feed or fuss. The failure mode is almost always water sitting at the root in heavy soil, which rots the crown from the middle out.

If your soil is clay, plant on a mound rather than in a pit. If you are irrigating a lawn nearby, keep the agave off that valve. And leave the terminal spines on unless the plant is beside a path, where trimming the tip is safer than trimming the visitor.

Blue agave, Agave americana and the named cultivars

Blue agave in the trade usually means one of the powdery blue cultivars rather than Agave tequilana, which is the tequila species and is not what is stocked for landscape work here. Agave americana is the large grey green species people picture when they think of a century plant, and it needs real room: 6 to 10 feet across at maturity.

For smaller spaces the named hybrids do the same job at a manageable scale. Compare aloe for winter flower and yucca and dasylirion for a finer vertical texture, or see the full nursery plants range.

Delivery & Pickup

Agave Delivery Across California & the Southwest

Order agave for pickup at our Central Valley or Antelope Valley yards, or bulk delivery throughout California — plus Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado. Tell us your ZIP and project and we will quote a delivered price.

Central Valley

Visalia · Fresno · Bakersfield · Tulare · Clovis · Hanford

Antelope Valley & High Desert

Lancaster · Palmdale · Santa Clarita · Victorville · Tehachapi

Southern California

Los Angeles · Riverside · San Bernardino · San Diego

Nevada, Arizona & Colorado

Las Vegas · Phoenix · Tucson · Denver