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Agave desmetiana 'Joe Hoak' - A very striking rosette-forming succulent to 2 feet tall by 3 feet wide. The graceful 2-foot-long leaves, which curve upward and then out, are striated with pale gray green and cream and have a strong green margin on the lower half of the leaf. The small well-spaced marginal spines and the 1/2-inch terminal spine are reddish brown.
Plant in full sun to part shade and water regularly to occasionally (the more water and fertilizer this plant gets the faster it will grow). Outdoor hardiness is unknown although we had it outdoors during winters where the low temperature reached 28 ° F. We have been told that Agave desmetiana has survived to at least the mid 20's ° F but not sure if this variegated plant is that hardy and also feel it's too beautiful to risk not covering it on cold nights. Remove suckers to show off the beauty and form of the individual rosette. This attractive plant does great in containers or in the ground in a mild coastal garden. Seen from a distance it might be confused with Furcraea foetida 'Mediopicta'.
Agave desmetiana is the likely parent species of this plant and so we list is as a cultivar of this species. For more information about this species and its current nomenclature see our listing for Agave desmetiana. The origin of this cultivar is pretty confusing. We received our first stock plant from the late Dutch Vandervort, of California, who got his start from Jim Georgusis of Harahan, Louisiana. Jim told us it came from Joe Hoak of Hoak's Nursery in Miami, Florida. It is sometimes listed as Agave meridensis variegata 'Joe Hoak' A. meridensis (perhaps referring to the city of Merida on the Yucatan Peninsula) or perhaps confusion with the alternative name for Agave desmetiana that was Agave miradorensis (from the Rancho El Mirador in Vera Cruz) . The graceful curve to the leaf is what has led to the belief that this plant is a hybrid or sport of Agave desmetiana and Jim Georgusis noted that Joe Hoak himself thought this to be the case. Supporting this is the similarity of the name meridensis to Agave desmetiana's synonym Agave miradorensis. Whatever its origins, it is one of the prettiest Agave we grow!
The information about Agave desmetiana 'Joe Hoak' displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant. |
