Frucrea -- A Really Cool Plant

Frucrea -- weird name, hard to spell and not so easy to say, but I love this plant.  Its full name is Frucrea foetida mediopicta.  It looks like a classy "mother-in-law's tongue" or sanservia.  The leaves are stiff like the MIL Tongue but the color variations are so much brighter and defined.  It comes from the agave family but this particular variety doesn't have the sharp spines and extremely stiff blades as the others in the same grouping.     Here in zone 8 we still have to treat it as a houseplant in the winter, although my friend Barbie has kept hers outside in a pot through the winter.  The outer leaves do get burned but they peel off easily and the new growth comes in nicely to fill out the plant.  She also has lots of little "pups" coming up around the edges.  Take a look at it....

This plant is in Barbie's yard but I wanted you to see it alone to get an idea of the shape and also the good coloration.

Here it is in Container No. 16 on Main and Washington....

......nicely nestled in among two Kimberly ferns, two White Christmas caladiums and a scattering of Kauai White torenia.  Barbie gets maximum growth on her plant by feeding it "blue water" a few times a week, although the writeups say that it does not need much fertilizer.  Her plant is also in full sun while this one gets morning sun and late day shade.  It will be interesting to see how they both do.

Haven't decided if this one will stay through the winter in the city container.  The micro climate on Main Street is warmer -- lots of heat from the passing vehicles -- so it might do as well as the Blue Crisp Fern that is across the street.  The fern lived happily with its companion heuchera through the winter of 2012 and come spring they both flushed out with lots of new growth.  

But at any rate, I think it makes a neat summer container plant and would be happy indoors in a bright window, waiting to come back out next year.  And you guessed it -- not easy to find but worth the search.