Beschorneria albiflora 23cm / 5L Plants - Outdoor GROW TROPICALS
Beschorneria albiflora Plants - Outdoor GROW TROPICALS
White-flowered Mexican Lily

Beschorneria albiflora

£28.99
Protect from hard frostSun-lovingEvergreenLoved by pollinators
Pot size
23cm / 5L £28.99

FREE tracked delivery on orders over £60

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Description

Beschorneria albiflora, the white-flowered Mexican lily, delivers the full architectural agave presence with none of the weaponry: a lush fountain of soft, strappy, grey-green leaves that you can brush past without a scratch. Rarer still, it is the only beschorneria that builds a true trunk with age, slowly lifting its rosettes into a small, sculptural tree unlike anything else in a British garden.

From the cloud forests of Mexico and Central America, it is surprisingly obliging here: rated H3 and taking around -7C given sharp drainage, thriving in mild, coastal and city gardens and against warm walls elsewhere. Mature plants add the headline act, tall red-flushed spikes hung with tubular, greenish-white bells that pollinators adore, and the rosette lives on after flowering.

How and where to grow

  • Position: full sun to light shade; a hot, bright spot flowers best.
  • Soil: free-draining, even poor and stony; add grit on heavy ground.
  • Size: rosettes to around 1.5 m, spreading 2 m; trunking slowly with age.
  • Hardiness: H3, to around -7C with dry winter roots.

Use it where you want agave drama beside a path or seating area, as the soft centrepiece of a gravel or dry garden, or among spikier companions in an exotic border. It contrasts perfectly with true hardy agaves and our wider hardy exotics range, and takes happily to a large container with our plants for pots.

Nursery-grown and genuinely scarce in the UK. See our seasonal expectations guide for honest winter advice.

Live Arrival Guarantee

All plants are covered by our 7-day live arrival guarantee. We pack every order in protective, sustainable packaging designed to keep your plants safe in transit, and every plant is checked before it ships. On the rare occasion something is not right on arrival, we will make it good, provided the plant is still in its original nursery pot.

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What to Expect

Seasonal by nature: what to expect

  • Grown outdoors, the way nature intended. Weather-tested and hardened in real UK conditions, so they thrive in your garden. A few marks on the older leaves are normal, the sign of a tough, real plant rather than a flaw.
  • It follows the seasons. Depending on when you order, your plant may arrive cut back, dormant or leafless. That's healthy: dormancy is the ideal time to plant.
  • Posted, not posed. Big leafy plants like bananas and gingers may be trimmed or gently folded to travel safely. It does the plant no harm, and it powers away again in spring.

Not sure what to expect from yours? Dormant, cut-back or weather-marked plants are all perfectly healthy and normal. Read what to expect through the seasons

Delivery & returns

Order by 1pm Monday to Friday for same day dispatch. Every plant travels in protective, plant-safe packaging with tracked delivery.

Changed your mind? See our Return Policy.

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How to care for White-flowered Mexican Lily

Plant me in full sun and protect me when hard frost threatens.

In their words

What our customers say

Arrived just like the photos - maybe even fuller. Healthy, well-acclimated, and straight into my collection with no issues.

Emily P.

Flawless leaves, stunning variegation, and clearly cared for by experts. It’s already a talking point in my home office.

James R.

Hard to find rare plants that are pet-safe. Ours arrived in perfect condition and looks amazing without any worry.

Sophie L.
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About White-flowered Mexican Lily

Beschorneria albiflora needs full sun or partial shade and well-drained soil. It is half-hardy to around −5°C and needs protection from hard frost.

Good for

Architectural Dry & Gravel Gardens Exotic Borders Pots & Containers

Hardiness

TenderVery hardy

Semi-Hardy (H3): down to around −5°C. Half-hardy; reliable in mild or coastal gardens, protect in colder areas.

Rated H3, taking around -7C when grown with sharp drainage. Reliable outside in mild, coastal and urban gardens; in colder areas give it a hot, free-draining spot against a wall or grow it in a pot moved under cover in hard frost. Read moreShow less

Rated H3, taking around -7C when grown with sharp drainage. Reliable outside in mild, coastal and urban gardens; in colder areas give it a hot, free-draining spot against a wall or grow it in a pot moved under cover in hard frost.

Position

Full sunPartial shadeSouth-facingWest-facingSheltered
Full sun to light shade. The soft rosette colours best and flowers most freely in good light. Read moreShow less

Full sun to light shade. The soft rosette colours best and flowers most freely in good light.

Soil

LoamSandChalkWell-drainedAcid pHAlkaline pHNeutral pH
Free-draining, even poor soil. Winter wet is the main enemy; add plenty of grit on heavier ground. Read moreShow less

Free-draining, even poor soil. Winter wet is the main enemy; add plenty of grit on heavier ground.

Watering

Water to establish in the first summer, then only in long droughts. Established plants are impressively drought tolerant. Read moreShow less

Water to establish in the first summer, then only in long droughts. Established plants are impressively drought tolerant.

Mature size

Height1-1.8 m
Spread1.8-2.4 m

Reaches full size in 10-20 years

Growth habit

Clump-forming

Flowering

May-Jul · White, Cream, Green

Seasonal colour

Foliage

Evergreen

Pruning

No pruning. Remove spent flower spikes at the base and peel away dead lower leaves as the trunk builds.

Toxicity

No reported toxicity to people or pets; leaves are soft and spineless.

Native range

Mexico, Central America

Family

Asparagaceae

Also known as

Beschorneria albiflora

Genus

Beschorneria
Good to know

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Beschorneria albiflora?

A rare Mexican relative of the agave with none of the armament: soft, strappy, grey-green leaves in a generous yucca-like rosette. It is the only beschorneria that slowly builds a true trunk, and mature plants send up dramatic red-tinted spikes of greenish-white bells. A collector's plant among hardy exotics.

How hardy is Beschorneria in the UK?

Beschorneria albiflora takes around -7C given sharp drainage, which we rate honestly as H3. It thrives outside in mild and coastal gardens and against warm walls elsewhere. Wet, cold winters do the damage rather than frost alone, so drainage is everything. See our seasonal expectations guide.

When does Beschorneria albiflora flower?

Mature rosettes produce a tall, arching, red-flushed spike in late spring to summer, hung with tubular, greenish-white to cream bells. Unlike many agave relatives the rosette does not die after flowering, so the display repeats as the clump builds.

What soil does Beschorneria need?

Anything free-draining, including poor, stony ground. It is a natural for gravel gardens and drought-tolerant schemes, where its soft rosette contrasts beautifully with spikier companions like hardy agaves.

Is Beschorneria safe near paths and children?

Yes, and that is one of its charms: it gives the full architectural agave look with soft, spineless leaves. There are no teeth, no terminal spikes and no reported toxicity, so it can go right beside a path or seating area.

Can I grow Beschorneria albiflora in a pot?

Yes, very well. A large terracotta pot with gritty compost shows off the fountain of foliage and lets colder gardens move the plant somewhere sheltered for winter. Browse our other plants for pots and containers.

Does my plant come with a pot?
Your plant will arrive in its nursery grow pot — the plastic pot it's been growing in. We don't include a decorative pot as standard, and there's a good reason for that: it means you get to choose one that fits your space and style, rather than being stuck with something that doesn't suit your home.

It also means you're not paying extra for a pot you might not want. The nursery pot is perfectly fine to keep your plant in for a while, just pop it inside a decorative cover pot or cache pot and you're good to go. When you're ready to repot (usually after a growing season or when roots start poking out the bottom), you can move it into something more permanent with fresh soil.

If you're not sure what size cover pot to go for, check the pot selector tool listed above, you'll want a decorative pot that's a centimetre or two wider than that to give it a comfortable fit.
How big will my plant be when it arrives?
Every plant on our site includes the pot size (e.g. 12cm) and, where possible, an approximate height. That's the most reliable way to set your expectations, photos can sometimes make a plant look larger or smaller than it really is.

If you're thinking "that sounds quite small for the price," here's something worth knowing: younger, smaller plants almost always adapt better to your home than larger ones. They adjust faster to your light and humidity, put out new growth more quickly, and tend to establish stronger root systems long-term. A plant that grows into your space will usually outperform one that was already big when it arrived.

That said, every plant is an individual. The one you receive may vary slightly in height, shape, or fullness compared to the photo, that's the nature of living things, not a quality issue. We select healthy, well-established specimens, and if you ever feel your plant doesn't match what you were expecting, just get in touch and we'll take a look.
What makes your plants different from the supermarket or garden centre?
There's a big difference between a plant that's been sitting under on a retail shelf and one that's been looked after and cared for by people who specialise in exactly this.

Our plants are grown in house or sourced from specialist nurseries, many of them varieties you simply won't find at your local garden centre or supermarket. Before anything leaves us, it's checked over by our horticultural team to make sure it's healthy, well-rooted, and ready to thrive in your home. We're not shifting volume off a pallet, we're choosing plants we'd want to keep ourselves.

When you buy from a supermarket, you get a plant and a generic care label. When you buy from us, you get the knowledge that comes with it, detailed care guidance, a team you can actually contact if something isn't going right, and the confidence that what's arriving has been looked after properly from the moment it was grown to the moment it reaches your door.

We're a specialist nursery first, not a retailer that happens to sell plants. That's the difference, and you'll see it the moment you open the box.
What should I do when my plant arrives?
First things first, unbox it as soon as you can. Plants don't love being in dark boxes any more than you would, and the sooner yours is out and breathing, the better.

Remove all the packaging carefully, give the soil a check with your finger, and water lightly if it feels dry. Then find it a spot with appropriate light, but avoid putting it straight into harsh direct sun or next to a radiator. Think of it like arriving somewhere new after a long journey: it needs a moment to adjust.

It's completely normal for your plant to look a little tired or droopy after transit. This is called transit stress, and most plants bounce back within a week or two. You might see a yellow leaf or some drooping, don't panic, and resist the urge to overwater or start repotting straight away.

Our advice for the first couple of weeks: leave it in its nursery pot, water it only when the top layer of soil feels dry, and let it acclimatise to your home's light, temperature, and humidity. Once it's settled in and showing signs of new growth, you can think about repotting or moving it to its permanent spot.

Every plant we sell comes with a care guide on the product page so you'll know exactly what it needs going forward. And if anything doesn't look right, get in touch with our team, we're always happy to help.
Will my plant survive being shipped?
Yes! and we go to serious lengths to make sure of it. Every plant is hand-packed by our team with protective wrapping and secure, custom-designed boxes to keep it stable and safe in transit. We've shipped hundreds of thousands of plants across the UK and our packaging methods have been refined over years to handle the bumps and jolts of delivery.

During colder months, we monitor weather forecasts and offer heat packs where needed to protect against frost. In extreme conditions, we may hold your order for a day or two rather than risk sending it out, we'd rather you wait an extra day than receive a stressed plant.

That said, plants are living things, and the occasional transit wobble can happen. If your plant arrives damaged or isn't in the condition you'd expect, just get in touch within 48 hours with a photo, and we'll make it right, whether that's a replacement or a full refund. No fuss.

The short version: we treat every box like it's going to someone who really cares about what's inside, because it is.
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Packaged with Care

Packaged with Care

Every order is hand-packed in eco-friendly, protective packaging - refined through thousands of deliveries to ensure your plant arrives healthy, hydrated, and looking its best.

Backed by our Live Arrival Guarantee.

Perfect for Gifting

Perfect for Gifting

From rare collector’s pieces to easy-care favourites, our plants arrive fully potted and ready to enjoy. Add a personalised note at checkout for a thoughtful finishing touch.

Delivered fresh, beautiful, and gift-ready.

Sustainability at Heart

Sustainability at Heart

All plants are ethically sourced from trusted growers, never wild-collected. Every order ships carbon-neutral in minimal-waste packaging.

Good for your home - and the planet.

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Beschorneria albiflora
£28.99