Introducing ML.V 2: “Mojave Frost”
To see what M.LV 2 “Mojave Frost” plants are currently available for purchase, check out the plant shop here.
An Agave Utahensis var Nevadensis from the M.LV “Mojave Frost” seed batch.
Blue agave utahensis v nevadaensis plants are my favorite. I particularly enjoy finding them covered in snow while hiking a ridgeline in the mountains. One of my seed batches consistently produces the palest and bluest glaucousness: M.LV 2, or Mojave Frost.
If you've ever purchased a plant from me, or seen a photo of an agave utahensis plant I grew from seed, you may have noticed handwritten numbers on the pot that accompanied that plant. M.LV 2.5 or M.LV 8.7, for example.
An example of the M.LV numbers on the plants I sell. M.LV 2 in this case, indicating that this plant is from the M.LV 2 seed batch and my fifth planting round.
M.LV is obviously short for Mojave.lv. And the number is actually two numbers, the first is the seed batch, and the second is the planting round. All plants labeled X.5 were sown at the same time, in my fifth planting round, and all plants labeled 5.X came from the same parent stalk. All of these stalks were hand (and insect) pollinated and harvested from mature plants in my collection.
I've kept detailed records for every seed batch, including germination and growth rates, leaf shape and color, spine and teeth size and shape, etc.
Other than germination rates, many of my seed batches tended to be similar; they pretty much all had the same percentage of rare and desirable traits like curly spines, exceptionally blue leaves, or fast growth rate.
Another example of an M.LV 2 “Mojave Frost” Agave Utahensis var Nevadensis.
Except for one seed batch: M.LV 2. At first, I didn't pay this batch too much attention; it had a fine germination rate, but a pretty slow growth rate and tended to produce very small, compact rosettes when very young. Though, as time went on, I noticed that the M.LV 2 seedlings were the most remarkably glaucous, agave utahensis plants I've grown, each with these frosty, blueish-white leaves. And for that glaucous reason, I started calling this batch Mojave Frost.
I haven't sold any of these ML.V 2 “Mojave Frost” plants yet. They've lived in my Reserve Collection, where I keep my selections of remarkable utahensis, where they get the perfect temperature year-round, and more light, water, and attention than the rest of my plants. My Reserve Collection represents the coolest few percent of all the seeds I germinate.
The M.LV 2 plants are still mostly smaller than other plants of the same age, but only a handful have stayed exceptionally compact.
Because it took me so long to recognize the specialness of the M.LV 2 seed batch, I don't have very many examples grown yet.
One of the Mojave Frost M.LV 2 plants that remained so compact its contractile roots have pulled it under the soil.
To see what M.LV 2 “Mojave Frost” plants are currently available for purchase, check out the plant shop here.
Over the next few months, I’ll be releasing some of the very limited number of Mojave Frost, M.LV 2 plants I have. As always, the only way to be notified of my weekly drops of Agave Utahensis plants for sale is via the mailing list. So go sign up now if you haven’t already!