A few of our listings here (especially the dwarf conifers) are truly shrubs, but since we are a perennial plant nursery, we list them here as woody perennials.
-
Agave 'Kissho Kan Nishiki'
Item #: 7617
Zones: Tropical
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $32.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outAgave x leopoldii 'Painted Nails'
Item #: 11099
Zones: 8a to 10b, guessing
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $34.00Regular priceUnit price per
Next crop available: 06/05/2026Sold out -
Sold outAgave x loferox 'A Step Above'
Item #: 17601
Zones: 7b to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $36.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outAgave lophantha 'Goldfinger'
Item #: 13043
Zones: 7b to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $34.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave lophantha 'La Bufa Baby'
Item #: 12722
Zones: 7b to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $35.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave lophantha 'Quadricolor'
Item #: 7124
Zones: 8a to 10b, guessing
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $34.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave lophantha 'Splendida'
Item #: 8014
Zones: 7b to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 11" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outAgave macroacantha 'Blue Ribbon'
Item #: 7568
Zones: 9a to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $32.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave 'Mateo'
Item #: 8929
Zones: 7b to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $30.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave montana 'Lime Flash'
Item #: 12626
Zones: 8a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $100.00Regular priceUnit price per
-
Agave montana 'Tiffany'
Item #: 9871
Zones: 9a to 10b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 20" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $125.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave multifilifera 'Starshine'
Item #: 9346
Zones: 8a to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $38.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave nickelsiae
Item #: 4764
Zones: 7b to 10b, guessing
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 10" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $34.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave x nigra 'Mustard Shark'
Item #: 9579
Zones: 8b to 11, guessing
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $39.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave x nigra 'Shark Bite'
Item #: 9575
Zones: 8a to 11
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $38.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave obscura 'Red Skyline'
Item #: 6071
Zones: 8b to 10b, guessing
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $42.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outAgave x ocahuata 'Sun Glow'
Item #: 12501
Zones: 9a to 11
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $34.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave ovatifolia
Item #: 6306
Zones: 7a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $32.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave ovatifolia 'Awakening Angel'
Item #: 15564
Zones: 7b to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $150.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave ovatifolia 'Frosted Flecks'
Item #: 13363
Zones: 9a to 11, guessing
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $50.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave ovatifolia 'Kraken'
Item #: 12939
Zones: 7b to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 48" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $45.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave ovatifolia 'Vanzie'
Item #: 3242
Zones: 7b to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 48" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $32.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave x ovatispina 'Blue Arrows'
Item #: 16039
Zones: 7b to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $38.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Agave parryi 'Border Guard'
Item #: 2948
Zones: 7b to 9b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $38.00Regular priceUnit price per
More Information About Woody Perennials
These perennial plants look like shrubs to me! (Buddleia - Butterfly Bush, Anisicanthus- Hummingbird flower, etc.) - Some perennial plants are hard to categorize and fall into groups known as subshrubs. Others, may be woody shrubs in a warm climate, but become perennials when growing north of their normal range. A few of our listings here (especially the dwarf conifers) are truly shrubs, but since we are a perennial plant nursery, we list them here as woody perennials.
If you can put it into a perennial garden bed and it looks like it belongs, then it is a perennial plant in our book! Technically, a perennial is any plant (including woody plants such as trees and shrubs) that lives for more than 2 years. The term "perennial" designates longer-lived plants while the term "annual" is used for plants that live for 1 year and "biennial" is used for plants that live for 2 years.
The technical definition of a shrub is a woody plant less than 13' tall with many branches or stems arising at or near the base that do not exceed 3" in diameter. Shrubs under 6' in height are sometimes referred to as sub-shrubs. Some of the perennial plants below are not shrubs because they do not make "real" wood (e.g., palms, and bananas) or their wood is not very rigid. Some are not shrubs because although they are woody, the branches remain wiry or very thin. And others are not shrubs because although they are woody, they die back to the ground each winter and re-emerge from the soil like an herbaceous perennial does.
Plants do not always fit easily into our man-made categories, but instead exist along a continuum that goes from woodiness to non-woodiness. But we like 'em all no matter where they are along the continuum and include them in our online plant catalog of the best garden perennials despite any woody-leanings. Most of our woody perennials are either hard to find plants in nurseries, or new plants that have excited us. When you're ready to buy some new exotic plants for your garden that fall into the woody perennials bucket, we hope you'll check out our list of woody plants.