Agaves are rosette-forming perennials growing in the desert and mountainous regions of North, Central, and South America and in the Caribbean. They bloom once at maturity, which can be anywhere from 5 to 40 years. Most plants die after flowering and are not frost hardy. Banded agave is a medium-sized plant bearing a dense rosette of toothed, bluish-green, sword-shaped leaves, banded with bright white margins. The leaves, which vary in length and emerge from a very short trunk, reach 2 feet long and 3 inches wide, while the entire plant grows to a height of 24 to 48 inches with a spread of 36 to 72 inches. It blooms in the spring after 10 or more years and dies after flowering, but new plants may develop from suckers at the base and bulbils along the flower stalk. Grow in full sun in dry, gritty soil in the rock garden, a container, or as a specimen plant in the border.