Plant in full sun in a well-drained soil. A drought tolerant plant but plants grow considerably larger when given regular irrigation. Has proven hardy down to at least 4-5° F. It has been noted that this species has stayed smaller in hot dry locations where water has been withheld but responds well to irrigation and grows much larger.

Agave ovatifolia occurs naturally at elevations from 3,700 to 7,000 feet int the Sierra de Lampazos in northern Nuevo Leon in northeastern Mexico. It was originally collected and distributed around 1894 by Mrs Anna Nickels as Agave "Noah" but was never properly described or published under this name as addressed by the article "Proposal to reject the name Agave noah (Agavaceae)" in the November 2003 issue of Taxon (52) by Greg Star, José Villarreal, Eduardo Estrada & Manuel de la Rosa. It was also once synonymized with Agave wislizenii by Trelease in 1911 and more recently included with A. parryi. It was properly described as Agave ovatifolia by Greg Starr and Jose Angel Villareal (STARR G, VILLARREAL JAQ. 2002. "Agave ovatifolia (Agavaceae) Una Nueva Especie De Maguey Del Noreste De Mexico" Sida 20 (2): 495-499). The specific epithet, from the Latin words 'ovatus' for "egg" and 'folius' for "leaves" is in reference to the broad ovate leaves and the common name, whale's tongue agave, also describes the leaf shape. There is speculation that this plant was distributed in California unnamed but there is no documentation on this or information how this plant performs in cultivation in California. As it is similar and related to Agave parryi the presumption is that it will grow as well as Agave parryi does in cultivation - so far this has proven true.

The cultivar 'Frosty Blue' is a particularly nice form of this species that was selected by Sean Hogan of Cistus Nursery who notes that "it has an almost turquoise hue and some nice powdery overlay (oh, and a smoky after finish!). Our original stock plants of the species plants were purchased from Starr Nursery in 2004 and micropropagated tissue culture plants of this selection first came to us in 2009 from Shady Oaks Nursery in Minnesota. The specific epithet, from the Latin words 'ovatus' for "egg" and 'folius' for "leaves" is in reference to the broad ovate leaves and the common name, whale's tongue agave, also describes the leaf shape. Images of this plant on our website courtesy of Santa Barbara landscape designer Pat Brodie. 

The information displayed on this page about Agave ovatifolia 'Frosty Blue' is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.