Plant in full to half day sun in a well-drained soil and give occasional to regular irrigation. Hardiness is not well known on this cultivar but based on others information list it as hardy to 20° F for USDA Zones 9a and above. Like the many other Mangave cultivars, it likely will be somewhat resistant to deer and rabbit predation. This ground-hugging variety is an attractive and interesting low growing plant for the rock or succulent garden or planted in a low, wide container. Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery says of it that it "looks like a drug-induced hallucination of a giant spider."

Mangave 'Desert Dragon' is a 2018 introduction from the Walters Gardens MAD ABOUT MANGAVEŽ Collection of plants bred by Hans Hansen. It is a complex hybrid made in March 2017 with the seed parent a hybrid between Manfreda maculosa, Agave gypsophila (A. pablocarrilloi) and Agave attenuata and the pollen from a hybrid between Mangave Bloodspot (itself a hybrid between Agave macroacantha and Manfreda maculosa) and Agave geminiflora. It is closest looking to the previously released Mangave 'Dreadlocks' but 'Desert Dragon' has shorter, broader, more twisted and arching leaves that are grayer in color. It received US Plant Patent PP31,311 in December 2019. We first received 'Dreadlocks' from Walters Gardens to trial in July 2018.

At our 40th anniversary Field Day in 2019 we asked attendees to judge their favorite Mangave from our Mangave Display that had 44 cultivars different varieties on display and this plant was one of the highest rated and to this day people always pick it out of the display as being one of the most interesting looking. 

The information about Mangave 'Desert Dragon' PP31,311 displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant.