These are absolutely awesome. I have been visiting Menorca for years (25 to be precise) and always admired these plants. In February I began my foray into succulents, so this year when i visited I paid attention. The sheer scale and beauty of these plants beggars belief, large examples being close to 7-8ft tall and 5ft across. They feel robust and strong with some serious sharpness to their spikes.
In the garden of our villa this year was an adult that had offsets coming from the base, I dug one up to bring home. It had only a couple of roots present. I truthfully didn’t hold out a whole lot of hope that it would take. Subsequently, and fast forwarding 4 months it is doing fine and has rooted exceptionally well. What has struck me about Agaves is just how large the root system is on them. Most of my Agaves only in this first season have developed roots that are already trying to root out of their ‘starter’ pots.
Developments above ground are somewhat more sedentary. In fact no noticeable change has occurred! – No wonder they are called century plants, they seemingly take so long to grow. I look forward to the day my plants looks like these mature plants I photographed in Menorca, although given the UK climate this is highly unlikely. Part of me would like to plant them out in spring next year and see how they fare planted in the ground although I may chicken out!!
Here is a useful link:
Charles Succulents 