
Testing Mangaves in My Garden
Iâm testing more than 30 Mangave cultivars in my Zone 9b Southern CA garden. This is a report on the first batch of 14 that arrived two years ago from Hans Hansen of Walters Gardens, a wholesale perennial grower in Zeeland, MI. Hans is the worldâs leading breeder of mangaves, and the first to reproduce them via tissue culture.
The hard part for breeders is selecting the true champions. Like a litter of puppies, plant crosses may look terrific, but how will they behave? It may take years to find out, and reports (like this) from gardeners far and wide provide important data.
Mangave is an intergeneric cross of Manfreda and Agave, and in the list below Iâve included each cultivarâs parentage (if available). All have speckled, dotted or blotchy leaves unless otherwise noted.
A bit of horticultural backstory

Mangave âMacho MochaâFrom Designing with Succulents by Debra Lee Baldwin.
The first mangave arrived on the gardening scene 15 years ago: the cultivar âMacho Mochaâ. According to San Marcos Growers: ââŠreported to be hardy to 9° F by Tony Avent in North Carolina. This 2004 Yucca Do Nursery introductionâŠwas from seed collected by Carl Schoenfeld while on a plant exploration trip into Mexico.â It attains 2 to 3 feet in height by 4 to 6 feet in diameter.

The best guess is that Agave macroacantha x Manfreda maculata = Mangave âBloodspotâ

Mangave 'Blood Spot'
Next came Mangave âBloodspotâ (2008; 1 foot high by 1 to 2 feet wide. Hardy to 20-25 degrees.) The origin is unclear; San Marcos Growers suspects Japan.
In my book, Designing with Succulents (2nd ed, 2015, pp. 224-225), I show both âBloodspotâ and âMacho Mochaâ and say, âIf plants can be fashionable, the latest stars are mangaves.â I still feel that way. Mangaves are new, beautiful, interesting, as easy to grow as any succulentâand as for hybridization, the skyâs the limit.
When the mangaves arrived, it was Christmas in January
I donât grow many exotic succulents. Iâm into creating a beautiful garden with those easy to come by. (If common succulents donât thrive, thereâs no great loss.) My few rarities are in pots where I can keep an eye on them. So when the box of mangaves arrived, into pots they wentâŠfor the most part. In hindsight, that probably protected a few of them but kept others from attaining their full potential. Regardless, two years later, Iâm pleased to report all are alive and well.
Iâll never forget opening that shipment back in 2017. The plants had been greenhouse-grown, and boxing and shipping had caused broken leaves. That made me groan, but I quickly became caught up in identifying their agave parentage. I said aloud to a plant with wavy leaves that looked trimmed with pinking shears, âIâll bet youâre from Agave gypsophila.â To the spitting image of a very common green agave that was a surprising lavender, I murmured, âSurely youâre not related to Agave attenuata?â All in all, those mangaves were the best gifts Iâd ever received from someone I hadnât met.

Manfreda âMint Chocolate Chipâ
I knew nothing about manfredas, the lily side of mangaves, so I was pleased that Hans had included two.

Manfreda âCherry Chocolate Chipâ is a variegated sport of Manfreda undulata âChocolate Chipâ.
One manfreda went into a pot, the other, into the ground. The latter started out glorious and stayed that way. In fact, Manfreda âCherry Chocolate Chipâ is now among my favorite plants.
I sheltered all 14 as best as I could from extremes of sun, heat and cold. As it turns out, that may not have been necessary.

Not taking any chances, I potted and shaded my new mangaves.
That first assortment from Walters Gardens included two manfredas and 12 mangaves.
The list below describes plants from the first shipment and coincides with my January, 2019 video: âMangaves in My Garden.â Some need repotting or a better location, which Iâve done since or soon will do.
Manfreda âMint Chocolate Chipâ (introduced 2017, see above), has floppy, wavy, narrow leaves. It was beautiful in a pot for months, then seemed to suffer in the summer heat. A section (perhaps a separate plant) bloomed and died back. Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery says the rest may have simply gone dormant after blooming and will come back. [See my mangave interview with Tony.] It also may have needed more water than I was giving it, or it wanted to be in the ground. In summer, leaves lost their sheen, and tips dried and shriveled. In fall, ants colonized the container. Above is how it looks now, revived by winter rains.
Manfreda âCherry Chocolate Chipâ (see above) looks delicate but isnât. (Twelve inches tall by 4 feet wide at maturity. Zones 7b to 9b?) It has done well in a sheltered bed alongside a wall that bounces sunlight onto it, doubtless helping its color. Spider-shaped with tapering, rippled, ribbonlike leaves, itâs fascinating, as are its red blotches and creamy white margins. Iâm thinking of removing any blooms to keep the plant strong.

Mangave âCarnivalâ is a Mangave âJaguarâ cross. Its variegation is the reverse of Mangave âKaleidoscopeâ.
Mangave âCarnivalâ exhibits the best and worst characteristics of the new genus: Wonderful rosy-red dots blend with pink, green and cream (the best) and leaves that are too fragile for the plant to exist unscathed in the open garden. It also doesnât like the summer heat of inland southern CA.

Mangave âCatch a Waveâ in my garden (top) and as shown on the Walters Gardens website. (Manfreda maculosa x Agave gypsophila) x Agave colorata
Mangave âCatch a Waveâ (2017) has languished in a too-shady spot in my garden, growing and even offsetting, but producing no color other than silvery-blue. Its leaves have elongated, and their pie-crust edges hearken to its A. gypsophila parentage. I may have to move it into greater light to get it to look more like the photo on the Walters site.

Mangave âInkblotâ (Mangave âBloodspotâ x Manfreda âChocolate Chipâ)
Mangave âInkblotâ has long, narrow, flexible, dark green leaves thickly dotted with inky blotches that give it a reptilian look. Itâs not a thing of beauty, but itâs interesting.

Above: Mangave âKaleidoscopeâ given the right amount of sun.

The same plant, after being transplanted into an garden bed that gets too little light.
Mangave âKaleidoscopeâ (2016; variegated sport of Mangave âJaguarâ. Sun to part shade, 18 inches tall by 2 feet wide at maturity.) âKaleidoscopeâ is a fast-growing, stunningly striped and mottled, large multicolored succulent that glows beautifully when backlit. I first planted it in a pot which it quickly outgrew, then transplanted it into the ground where it probably needs more sun. Rather than replanting it a third time, Iâll just trim the tree thatâs shading it.

Agave attenuata x Mangave âBloodspotâ = Mangave âLavender Ladyâ
Mangave âLavender Ladyâ (2017. Sun to part shade. 12 inches tall by 20 inches wide at maturity. Frost tender.) Having grown both parents, I was delighted to meet their lavender-gray offspring. Iâve had it in a pink pot for two years, possibly stunting it. Iâll soon find it a place in the gardenâone thatâs frost-free, because this lovely cultivar lacks hardiness.

Agave stricta x Mangave âBloodspotâ = Mangave âMan of Steelâ
Mangave âMan of Steelâ. Iâm familiar with both parents, so unpacking this beauty was like a family reunion. Both âBloodspotâ and A. stricta are stiff-leaved, so not surprisingly their offspring is, too. On the plus side, âMan of Steelâ is not as delicate as other mangaves. Its thin, silvery, downward-curving leaves offer an elegant and symmetricalâif pointyâsilhouette.

Mangave âMission to Marsâ (Manfreda jaliscana x Agave lophantha) x Agave shawii.
Mangave âMission to Marsâ (2017. Anticipated to be 2 feet tall and 4 feet wide at maturity, Zones 9a to 11?). Iâm unfamiliar with its manfreda parent but it must be red and soft, because its agave parents are green, gray and stiff-leaved. The hybridâs many red blotches nearly cover any green, but in my garden some leaf tips have shriveled. What it lacks in symmetry and form it makes up for in colorâŠpretty much. I might dig it up and see if it does better in a pot.

Mangave âMoonglowâ (Mangave âBloodspotâ x Manfreda âChocolate Chipâ)
Mangave âMoonglowâ. Showing the best of both parents with soft, wavy-edged and curling slender leaves, this suggests âInkblotâ with more of a bluish cast. Dots are thick and maroon. I have it in a blue pot that suits it.

Mangave âPineapple Express'
Mangave âPineapple Expressâ on the Walters Gardens website looks like the foliage atop a pineapple, only speckled. The one I planted in a pedestal pot doesnât have a pronounced, stacked-leaf growth habit. It has stayed fountainlike and nicely dotted, but yellow-green. Iâve since removed it from the pot and expect good things from it in the ground.

Agave gypsophila x Mangave âBloodspotâ = Mangave âSilver Foxâ.
Mangave âSilver Foxâ (2017. Sun to part shade. Zones 9a to 11? Eleven inches tall by 22 inches wide at maturity.) Nursery photos show a compact, wavy rosette thatâs distinctly silvery-purple and rosy-dotted. Mine looks more like a short-leaved gypsophila, minimally freckled. Itâs happy but possibly needs more light.

Mangave âSpotty Dottyâ (Manfreda maculosa x Agave gypsophila) x Agave bovicornuta.
Mangave âSpotty Dottyâ. This has performed well in my garden and colored up nicely. Its gently twisting, soft, greenish-yellow leaves are well freckled with red. A favorite.

Mangave âWhale Taleâ (Manfreda maculosa x Agave gypsophila) x Agave ovatifolia.
Mangave âWhale Taleâ (2018. Sun to part shade. Zones 7b to 11? Twelve inches tall by 4 feet wide at maturity.) Mine has no speckles and simply looks like a nice silver agave with darker areas that lack pulverulence. Itâs a lovely plant but again, it probably needs more sun to enhance its color. In my garden, thatâs invariably a trade-off: More sun equals greater danger of beige sunburned patches and brown, dry leaf tips.
What is a manfreda?
If youâre into succulents, youâre well aware of agaves. But chances are youâve never heard of the genus Manfreda. After all, itâs not in the Sunset Western Garden Book. There exist 35 species of these lilylike succulents. Like Agave, Manfreda hails from Mexico, but also ranges much farther north and east. The genus is closely enough related to Agave that the plants can cross, although this rarely happens in nature.  Manfreda is also related to Polianthes. Plants in both genera are commonly referred to as tuberoses.
Tuberose leaves form rosettes from a short stem and send up fragrant flowers along slender stalks. Flowers are tubular and whitish, yellow, green, or brownish, with long stamens. Some are wonderfully fragrant. Manfredas, unlike agaves, donât die after floweringâa nice characteristic they pass on to their intergeneric crosses, the mangaves. Leaf margins of manfredas are smooth or slightly serrated and lack spiny tips.

Manfreda maculosa is the progenitor of numerous crosses
Spotted manfreda, (Manfreda maculosa, commonly called Texas tuberose) has silvery-green leaves covered with purple spots. Itâs the one most often seen in cultivation.
According to Plant Delights Nursery: âLike its Agave daddy, x Mangave are evergreen (above freezing) and like its Manfreda momma, it is polycarpic (doesnât die after flowering) and attracts hummingbirds. The agave parent contributes the evergreen nature and the form, while the manfreda parent contributes the purple spotted pigment. Both parents contribute drought-tolerance and an aversion to winter moisture.â
[See my mangave interview with Tony Avent of Plant Delights.]
Mangaves in My GardenÂ
Back in 2017, before my first shipment arrived, mangaves were not entirely unknown to me. Iâd seen two cultivars in high-end gardens by San Diego designer Michael Buckner. I considered the plants expensive rarities and suspected they probably wouldnât thrive in the comparatively rigorous conditions of my own garden. Located in the foothills of inland San Diego County on a steep, terraced, east-facing slope, it gets frost every winter (down to the high 20s F) and near-desert heat in late summer (into the 90s for weeks). Although Iâve been amending the soil for decades, the substrate is decomposed granite (not a bad thing, itâs well draining) and clay (never a good thing.) Fortunately thereâs not a lot of clayâabout enough to build an adobe dog house.
The succulents that thrive out in the open in my garden are those that arenât picky. Full-sun, frost-prone areas are OK for agaves and cacti, and those Southwest succulents that store water in their trunks, such as dasylirions, yuccas and beaucarneas. I have every kind of aeonium in the dappled shade of native oaks and beneath lacy trees, and quite a few aloes, although itâs a balancing act to give the latter adequate protection from weather extremes yet enough sun to bloom.
Tender succulents such as jades, kalanchoes and euphorbias grow in frost-free microclimates beneath eaves, where they bask in half a dayâs sun. Apart from shade succulents like sansevierias and toughies like graptoverias and Mexican sedums, others (like echeverias, haworthias and stapeliads) are in pots that I move or shelter as seasons change.
So what about your garden?Â
Manfredas prefer full sun, short of scorching; well-drained soil thatâs kept on the dry side; and room for their root systems to expand. Containers should be at least 12 inches deep. Iâve noticed that mangaves with established rootballs can be difficult to remove from pots. Some sources say that Mangave is a slow grower; others, that itâs much faster than Agave. So far, with the exception of âKaleidoscopeââa mangave on steroidsâthey seem about the same.
Late spring and summer is the growth season. Like most succulents, mangaves appreciate a dose of diluted fertilizer when emerging from dormancy. Theyâre fine outdoors in mild climates with minimal rainfall, typical of Southern CA. Elsewhere, overwinter them indoors. Keep them cool and the soil barely moist. In spring, return them to the garden and reintroduce to full sun gradually. Theyâre not great indoor plants because they need ultraviolet light to color-up.
As for garden design, the aesthetic uses of mangaves are only beginning to be explored. I anticipate that theyâll become commonplace in low-water landscapes throughout the Southwest, likely with a broader range than South African succulents, but not venturing into desert gardens. I could be wrong about that, but mine donât seem to like late-summer heat. The plantsâ soft, arching leaves and interesting spotting and striping will likely make them collectible novelties, beginning in California and spreading worldwide.
By the mid-â20s, mangaves will doubtless be commonplace. The certainty of new cultivars selected for desirable colors, variegation, toughness, growth habit and size means thereâs no limit to whatâs possibleâfrom upright, spiky, speckled, stiff-leaved, agave-lookalikes to ribbon-foliaged lilies that are languorous, loopy, crenellated, freckled and noodle-soft.
Mangave drawbacks
The main drawback to early Mangave cultivars, especially those bred not to âbiteâ (i.e. they lack the needlelike tips and barbed teeth of their Agave parents) is soft, flexible, thin and brittle foliage thatâs prone to tearing or breaking, and is easily damaged by snails or impact. Place such plants out of harmâs way to avoid compromising their beautiful symmetry. Although theyâll outgrow breakage, mangaves are succulents that shouldnât be stepped on, even by a chihuahua.
Theyâre also vulnerable to agave snout weevil infestation.
Find out more about mangavesâŠ
Plant Expert Tony Avent on MangavesÂ
Tony Avent, Plant Delights Nursery, Raleigh, NC
According to plant expert Tony Avent, owner of Plant Delights Nursery in Raleigh, NC, âthe world of mangaves is exploding. The colors and forms continue to break new barriers of previously inconceivable foliage.â  Founded in 1988, Aventâs nursery is a premier source of rarities and nativesâŠ[Continue reading]Â
Visit the Mangave page on the Plant Delights Nursery website.
Connect with hybridizer Hans Hansen by following his Facebook âMad About Mangaveâ page.
Watch my Mangave videos:
Mangave Unboxing (8:44)

Mangaves are succulents with agaves in their parentage. Many of these 21st-century hybrids are lilylike, with flexible leaves, and do well in gardens that get frostâŠeven snow! Watch me unbox some freckled beauties never been seen beforeâŠincluding a rare Hansera!
My Dozen Mangave Cultivars (5:38)

Come on a mangave treasure hunt with me as I track down a dozen cultivars that have been in the ground and in pots for two years. All have done well and some better than others. I evaluate the plantsâ progress and how to attain their full beauty and potential.
Planting Mangaves (5:31)

With 18 exciting new Mangave cultivars to find a place for in my garden, I design and plant my new âMangave Terraceâ and perform âC-sectionsâ on potbound cultivars rarinâ to go.
WHERE TO FIND MANGAVES ONLINE:
Plant Delights Nursery
Mountain Crest Gardens
Very informative – thanks! I completely agree that once gardeners catch on to the beauty of these plants they will become more more widespread.
I’m in the same hardiness zone ( tho on SF Peninsula so possibly more maritime influence) and just started growing mangaves and manfreda over the last few yrs myself. I defaulted to full sun for my 4 – 5 varieties and so far so good. The stand out is ‘Mission to Mars’ which has been in the ground for only 6 – 8 months but has more than doubled in size – now roughly 1’h x 2’w. A beautiful plant! I wish I could buy directly from Walters Gardens – or get surprise boxes in the mail like yourself đ
good job!
I have a place in northern Starr County in Texas , the weather there is so hot and humid . if you ever want to have someone try plants in that area let me know . average rainfall 12″-25 ” rain a year. The sun itself will burn plant starting in July to September .not for drought resistant plant , they have to be drought tolerant or is there an other word for it?
I have a Mission to Mars mangave I planted in ground, it has done great so far. I am zone 8B in Texas, I put some organic cactus soil to fill the hole around it. I have had it planted almost two months now. I’d upload a pic if I could. Can’t wait to get more mangaves, I will get them from Tony in NC. I have been looking at his inventory. Also Love your blog!
That’s wonderful, Brieanna! Let us know how it handles the winter in your area.