Like many plant fanatics, I always try to bring a piece of my vacation home with me upon my return–usually in the form of seeds. This Agave was an ambitious smuggling effort. Leon and I had traveled to the south of Spain and stayed in a wonderful hostel/hotel in Torremolinos. We swam in the beautiful pool there and ate in the restaurant that the hostel owner ran in the evenings. It was a magical few days. I noticed one of the agaves had pups starting around the mother plant, so I popped off a tiny one and slipped it into one of my socks in my suitcase. Not only did I avoid prison, but the offset rooted when I got home and has been growing very slowly ever since. That was about 1997.

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I made an attempt to give this plant to some friends who have a house in Lodi where it could grow outside. The plant went down in the trailer with Leon, but somehow there was a mix-up and it never got passed to his cousin and came back in the trailer, as well. It is a well-traveled plant! And obviously wants to stay with me.

My 2020 plans for this plant are to top-dress it with some sandy, fertile soil and move it outside in some very bright sun when the weather warms.