What part of TN are you in? There's a big and very handsome A. americana at the UT gardens, if you want to see one in person. :-)

I'm near Chattanooga. Do you mean UT in Knoxville? We were thinking of going up there to visit "Old Town" and maybe we could stop there. Is it a large botanical garden? Is the A. Americana very large? I'm trying to transform parts of my larger perreniel garden to make it lower maintenance so I am looking into a few lower growing shrubs and I thought the Agave would look dramatic. I have some Musa Basjoos (hardy bananas) and it's amazing the impact something unexpected has.

UT has trial gardens to test plants. They're also extremely decorative and informative. See the link below for more info.
There are also several other gardens in Knoxville you might want to visit.
The Knoxville Arboretum is a work in progress. It incorporates the site of a 200-year-old nursery.
http://www.knoxarboretum.com/index.html

The Racheff Gardens are an interesting site, maintained by the Federation of Tennesssee Garden clubs.
http://gardencentral.org/tenngardenclubs/ivanracheffhousegardens/

Here is a link that might be useful: UT Gardens

Yup, UT in Knoxville. It's a nice garden to visit, and the agaves are close to the entrance. The big americana is several feet across, but I've never actually measured it. ;-)

I believe this is the agave in question. This pic was taken about two years ago. It is much bigger now (and so are my kids :). I am always in awe when I see it.
Rebecca

That's the one!

I had a friend give me an Agave plant in Jan. 2006. It was about 5 inches tall. I potted it and kept it in the garage in front of the window until it could go outside. It's about 10 inches tall now and seems to be growing well. I'm not sure what variety it is. Before you purchase one you may want to check the Plant Exchange forum or some of the other exchange forums. Someone was offering agave pups recently for trade.

Thanks everyone for all the excellent information! The picture is gorgeous. You grow 'em good cannahavana (agave & kids both)! ;-))) I think I will try to get one without paying the big bucks and grow it in a pot for a while. (thanks jim6B). It does not sound like it's going to sprout up like a weed right away, but I would like to try one. Thanks again!

Well, if you just want to try growing agaves in general -- the Home Depots here in Knoxville have been selling young agaves all season. They've had several different species (unlabelled), about $3.50 each. That would be a good place to start!