What have I done? I covered the plant with shade cloth as soon as I got home from a month-long absence. It had been without water for 5 weeks. When I took off the cloth a week later this is what I saw. Confederate rose agave may be touted for its drought tolerance but coupled with 100° temperatures day after day it shows its displeasure. This on top of the hail that dinged it in the spring.
My immediate thoughts were that it was a total loss. After all those years of patiently waiting for it to reach such a beautiful cluster. ( This agave is well known for producing offsets which cluster beautifully around the mother plant)
But wait. A good watering and one week later things are looking better. The plant has a reprieve.
It will never lose the scars along the edges where it was burnt to a crisp but I believe it will make a good recovery and will live to spend another year on the pedestal.
Interestingly, this week there was an article in Gardening Gone Wild, by Debra Lee Baldwin, about stress and succulents. She highlighted several succulents which take on a rosy color when stressed. Euphorbia tirucalli, Sticks of Fire, is one of those, although the one I have has never graced me with such color. She does go on to say that this coloration does not happen among agaves so I think water saved this plant in the nick of time.
