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x Mangave 'Kaleidoscope' PP 28,614 - This very attractive fast growing evergreen plant grows to 18 to 24 inches tall by 2 to 3 feet wide in tight offsetting clumps of rosettes holding fleshy, narrow, lance-shaped leaves with denticulate (toothed) edges that arch outward and slightly down with yellow bands along a thin red margin and a narrow band of light green between the margin the darker olive-green leaf center. Overlaying the entire leaf surface are well spaced red spots. Mature plants flower (but do not perish like some agave) with tall 6–7-foot vertical spikes of lightly fragrant green flowers in summer.
Plant in full to part sun in a well-drained soil and irrigate occasionally. Has proven hardy down into the mid 20s° F and listed by some as good down to USDA Zone 8a but hardiness has not really been well tested on this plant. With its bright colors and arching habit of foliage this plant makes a very nice container specimen, and the flowers are attractive to hummingbirds. A very attractive looking plant with the amazing colors that is best heightened in bright light to full sun when the reddish margins blend into an orange color in the yellow bands - just sensational!
Mangave 'Kaleidoscope' was an uninduced vegetative sport of Mangave 'Jaguar' that occurred in the Walters Gardens tissue culture laboratory in 2013 and was introduced by them in 2016. It proved unstable in the tissue culture process with production now done by us using more traditional methods of propagation. The parent plant, 'Jaguar', is thought by some to be an intergeneric hybrid between an unknown agave and the wide ranging Manfreda guttata, but some consider 'Jaguar' a cultivar of Manfreda guttata, which was described by Joseph Nelson Rose in his 1905 Contributions from the United States National Herbarium. While it is rare in cultivation, Rose noted it to be "the commonest Manfreda in Mexico" and it has also been variously described as Polianthes guttata, Leichtlinia protuberans, Agave guttata and Agave protuberans. Mangave 'Kaleidoscope' received US Plant Patent PP 28,614 in November 2017 and we have been licensed to grow it by Walters Gardens since 2019.
This information about Mangave 'Kaleidoscope' PP28,614 displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate 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 that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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