I'm a learner, at all of this -- come see!
86 total photos Last updated on 06-24-2008
Agave: Think tequila. There are a number of slightly difference agave, but in my experience they hold these things in common: Takes them a loooonnnnnnggggg time to grow; they are silver-gray-green rather than pure green; they are hard to dig up (the shovel bounces away from the fibrous plant and its roots); and those black tips are devilish. I have a great scar on my arm from brushing past one while working in the yard -- 21 years ago!
I'm betting that the cats don't rub their little bodies on this plant (similar to your roses' photo!). Cactuses have such a presence in nature - do these grow wild or are they planted by hand? Once they are part of the landscape, they would probably remain there for their lifespan, am I right?!!
We had a cat who was quite at home amongst the cacti; she snuggled down into 'beauty bark', too, which most folks put down to discourage cats! These guys aren't so bad as the "soft"-looking ones with billions of little quills that break lose -- Agave just stab you from where they are. Cactus and succulents are wonderful for attaching and growing wherever a snippet falls off and grasps a bit of moisture; the trade-off is how long it takes most to grow; then the problem is trying to uproot them once they've taken -- for instance, yucca roots will shatter into a million pieces, and any CELL of it develops a new plant. (Ask me how I know.) The so-called 'century plant' mythically blooms once in a hundred years (it looks a lot like an agave, with a spike that appears and grows upward and then flowers). I've read it's more like 50 years, but then the whole plant dies.