192 
GARDENING IN THE SOUTHWEST 
Sotol 
Agaves 
The Sotol, or Dasylirion texanum, grows in a very large rosette 
of long, very slender saw-toothed leaves from which an extremely 
tall, sand-colored flower stalk emerges, ending in a slightly en¬ 
larged spike-head of inconspicuous, creamy-white, tiny flowers 
which attract bees from great distances. This plant is very odd, 
making a striking addition to the planting scheme, particularly 
adaptable to the Spanish-type house. It is peculiarly decorative 
when used judiciously. After the bloom stalk dies, the plant sends 
up several new shoots, that, in turn, die. 
This habit of reproduction is true of many of the desert plants. 
The Agaves, or Century plants (Lecheguilla and americana) which 
have much more fleshy, more upright standing, thicker spiney 
leaves and tall (sometimes twenty feet high) branching flower 
stalks, from which bell-shaped, upward-turned small flower clusters 
that grow out at right angles like opened fans, from the main stem, 
give all their life to the production of this stalk. Its flowers, too, 
are very fragrant and delightful to the bees, yet in the northern 
portion of the Southwest, generally speaking, Agaves or Aloes are 
not hardy—hence they are seldom attempted. Since it usually 
takes from fifteen to twenty years for an Agave to produce a 
flower stalk, the possible reward for nursing a plant through 
inclement weather periods is thought too hazardous. 
On the whole, decidedly the most satisfactory of all the desert 
plants are those that can be secured from reputable commercial 
merchants whose experiments have developed a splendid list of 
desirable specii. 
On a hillside, in a corner, grouped or alone, any and each of 
these desert plants are effective and picturesque. 
Margaret Scruggs. 
