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Parry's agave
Habit (mature) · Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Limited coverage
Parry's agave
Agave parryi
A rosette-forming evergreen succulent native to the grasslands, desert scrub, and pinyon-juniper woodlands of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and northern Mexico at 4,000-8,000 feet. Thick, rigid blue-gray leaves with toothed margins and a one-inch terminal spine form a dense, symmetrical basal rosette to about 2 feet tall by 3 feet wide. Surprisingly cold-hardy for a succulent — reliably hardy to USDA Zone 7 and reported to survive -20F as long as the cold is dry rather than wet. Each rosette flowers only once, after 10-30 years, sending up a single 20-foot stalk before dying and leaving its rooted offsets behind.
Native: AZ, NM, TX
Review: Source-backed
Climate fit: moderate (41/100)
Focal point
Structure
Container
Light
Full sun
Water
Low water
Mature size
18-24" tall · 36" apart
Hardy in zones
7a-10b
cold to mild winters
Summer heat range
Warm-Extreme
warm to extreme summers Interim Plotwright tier until the plant AHS range is authored.
Native in Illinois
No
Native across 3 US states and Canadian provinces — a wide-ranging part of North America's plant communities.
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Cold hardiness
Now
Zone 6b
USDA
Chicago, IL · 1991-2020 average annual coldest day
Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer
Won't grow here
2050
Zone 7b
Plotwright
Your zone + climate-model shift · SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry)
Well-suited
In plain terms: cold winters — coldest nights typically around -3°F.
✕→✓
Out of range today, but newly possible by 2050.
Heat tolerance
Loading current AHS heat-zone and plant heat-fit data at your coordinates…
Sources & citations
Cite this page
For lesson plans, articles, or research that uses this page. To cite a single upstream fact instead, use its specific source listed below.
Plotwright. (2026, May 17). Parry's agave (Agave parryi). Retrieved 2026, June 5, from https://plotwright.garden/plants/parrys-agave
Sources for every fact
Every fact on this page traces to a source. 18 fields cited18 source-backed.
Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder
Botanical research database
Backs 17 fields
Identity
Summary
Plant type
Light
Moisture
Hardiness
Heat zone
Size
Spacing
Habit
Design roles
Seasonal interest
Growth stages
Lifecycle
Regional guidance
Success tips
Designer notes
Wikimedia Commons
Photo · CC BY-SA 4.0
Backs 1 field
Image
Community photos
The photos above are our reviewed reference set, curated for accuracy.
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