Texas Gardening: does anyone grow texas tuberose? or african hosta?, 0 by dmj1218

dmj1218 wrote:
Last but definitely not least, on to Manfreda maculosa--our beloved Texas native. These are one year old only seedlings--I'm not getting into my older plants on these today.

This is a low growing native of South Texas and northeastern Mexico (where these seedlings hail from) with rosettes of thin, soft, canoe-shaped glaucous, succulent blue-green toothed leaves sporting an abundance of maroon to brown colored spots. The plants reach a maximum height and width of one foot (30 cm), which makes them the perfect size for most garden and container settings; also excellent ground covers. The tubular two-foot-tall blooms open a greenish-white and fade reddish-pink as they age. Manfreda maculosa grows from underground rhizomes and needs a very well drained soil with full sun to partial shade. It becomes deciduous to survive droughts and can survive serious freezes without damage once established in the garden. Chopped rhizomes of Manfreda maculosa were once used as a source of soap and shampoo in the republic of Texas. Caterpillars of the rare Manfreda Giant Skipper (Stallingsia maculosa) depend on this plant as a food source. Another must-have native Texas bulb/plant that grows good in zones 8-9.

This plant is called the 'deciduous agave' for a number of reasons. One, it will loose all its leaves in response to drought--a survival technique. It also looses all its lowers leaves in the spring after the winter season (thus the ratty appearance of mine).

This first sample is on the east side of the house (notice cement foundation) and only gets about 3 hours of sun per day. Notice it actually looks better and has more spots than the second photo in full sun. The spots are a function of age not sun--the seedlings don't even start to develop spots until they reach 9-12 months of age (kind of like the line in 101 dalmations--"They'll get their spots).