Removing a VW Beetle-sized Agave ‘Silver Surfer’ in Michele's garden

We’ve all heard of puppies who turn into adult dogs that are much larger than the owner had ever expected. The same can happen with agaves, as you’ll see in this post.

In April 2009, my friend Michele, whose garden is featured in this post, bought a couple of agaves from Cistus Nursery on Sauvie Island near Portland, OR. One was an Agave gentryi ‘Jaws’, the other a new introduction called ‘Silver Surfer’. Both were cute and small, no larger than 4 × 4 inches. Michele still has the original tag:

Cistus tag for Agave ‘Silver Surfer’

Agave ‘Silver Surfer’ was introduced by Plant Delights Nursery in 2007, two years before Michele bought hers. The original source was a seedling from a 1992 Yucca Do Nursery seed collecting expedition (YD 45-83) at 5,200’ ft. above Palmillas, Tamaulipas, Mexico. There, Agave americana ssp. protamericana intergrades with Agave asperrima (formerly known as Agave scabra).

The Cistus tag gave the size as “at least” 4 × 5 ft. That’s what Michele went by when she bought her ‘Silver Surfer’. At that time, though, ‘Silver Surfer’ had been around for less than 10 years and nobody really knew what its mature size would be under garden conditions...

By September 2010 (see photo below), Michele’s ‘Silver Surfer’ had tripled in size to about 1 ft.:

Agave ‘Silver Surfer’ in September 2010, 18 months after purchase

By March 2013, two and half years later, it had grown to over 2 × 3 ft.:

Agave ‘Silver Surfer’ (left) in March 2013, Agave vilmoriana on the right (now long gone)

By September 2018, it was taller than the 5 ft. fence behind it:

Agave ‘Silver Surfer’ in September 2018: 5 × 5 ft.

And here it is in January 2023, 7 ft. tall by 12 ft. wide:

Agave ‘Silver Surfer’ in January 2023: 7 × 12 ft.

Yes, you read right. By January 2023, it had grown to 7 × 12 ft. That’s quite a bit larger than Cistus’ original estimate of 4 × 5 ft. (OK, they did say “at least”).

Michele was getting more concerned about this puppy turned into Great Dane. It was only going to get larger and would eventually produce a flower stalk of immense height and weight. Removing the bloomed out carcass would have been a gargantuan task.

For these reasons, Michele made the difficult decision to have ‘Silver Surfer’ removed now. Fortunately, the landscaper who works for her homeowner’s association agreed to slay the monster. Michele documented the progress in these photos:

Leaves removed, leaving a massive (and heeeeeeavy) “pineapple”

Cutting up the core with a chainsaw

Look at the orange ellipsis in this photo: it’s a stream of liquid shooting out of the core. Michele says it was an impressive sight.

Whittling away at the core until it was all chopped up

Michele’s landscaper took the remains of ‘Silver Surfer’ to the county landfill for composting. He and Michele were stunned by the weight of his load: almost 2000 pounds! Michele thinks the core weighed about 600, and each leaf (taken off at the beginning of the job) an average of 20 pounds. Michele estimates there had been at least 50 leaves. These are staggering weights. But then, ‘Silver Surfer’ had been bigger than a VW Beetle!

In the photo below, which I took in June 2022, you can see an Agave ovatifolia between ‘Silver Surfer’ on the left and ‘Jaws’ (also from Cistus) on the right. A. ovatifolia is not a small agave, yet it’s completely dwarfed by the other two:

Here’s Agave ovatifolia, now that ‘Silver Surfer’ is gone:

Agave ovatifolia, suddenly a focal point in this corner of Michele’s garden

Michele also took this opportunity to remove the Agave americana ‘Mediopicta Alba’ to the right of A. ovatifolia to create more space between A. ovatifolia and A. gentryi ‘Jaws.’ It was easy to do using her landscaper’s sharp-end shovel and pickaxe. Michele saved the pups to share with friends but may keep one for herself.

The next step is for Michele to remove the remaining ‘Silver Surfer’ roots and runners and then rebuild the area with gravel, soil and rocks to make it ready for replanting. I look forward to seeing what she ends up choosing.

Removing a plant that has been with you for 14 years and has occupied such a large part of your garden (literally) isn’t easy, but Michele made the right decision. ‘Silver Surfer’ would be fantastic in a larger garden; in fact, it reminded me of the Agave franzosinii specimens at the Ruth Bancroft Garden. In Michele’s small garden, however, it was simply too massive.

Michele says that she would never have bought ‘Silver Surfer’ if she had known what its eventual size would be. At the same time, it’s hard to blame Cistus for underestimating the dimensions, considering this information simply wasn’t known at the time. That’s just how it goes sometimes, especially with new introductions.

Except for the second to last, all photos in this post are Michele’s.

© Gerhard Bock, 2023. All rights reserved. To receive all new posts by email, please subscribe here.