Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) was said to be 5 feet 3 inches tall, so that gives you an idea as to the size of this plant. Height is just one of the impressive features of plants from the Agave group. Their large basal rosettes of thick, fleshy sculpted leaves ending in a sharp point, plus a range of interesting flower structures are too very affecting. Many gardeners know them as Century plants, where eventually, they produce a large flowering-scape that sets seed and dies, which seems both fleetingly tragic yet beautifully poignant, much like Frida Kahlo’s own life.
Agave are predominantly from Mexico and native to the wider arid and semi-arid areas of Mesoamerica and North America. There are currently 210 named species in the genus Agave that now sits in the plant family Asparagaceae.
Images were taken during a photo shoot for Vogue magazine entitled “Senoras of Mexico” in 1937 by photographer Toni Frissell (1907-1988).