Restoring Dignity to a 35-Year-Old Agave Plant
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A tragic thing happened when I got home from work. The agave bloom broke in half. (The mother plant is on the left, with the stalk rising up out of the frame. I don’t think I need to point out the top half of the stalk.)
An agave plant across the street had finally bloomed after 35 years of growth. During that time, it had propagated many more plants around it, but no blooms. Unexpectedly, a stalk rose from the center and into the air about 20 feet. It was huge and covered in little flowers-to-be, waiting to show off its rarely seen display, after which it would die with dignity. A single, immense bloom followed by death.
The stalk had to grow through the branches of a well-established cedar before it was in the clear, which normally wouldn’t have been a problem. However, the stalk grew too close to a branch which ended up rubbing against the stalk, eventually weakening it to the point of breaking.
I had planned on posting some photos of this magnificent plant in full bloom, but it is not going to happen. Not naturally, anyway. Nancy suggested that I cut the stalks of unopened blooms and place them in water. Hopefully, the blooms will sense their accelerated death and open up for us, in spite of being separated from the plant.
There was a similar instance of this death blooming in my yard, where a morning glory vine was chewed apart (by a dog) at its base, killing the vine. It seemed as if the vine knew it was going to die, so it expended every bit of stored energy to push out the flowers, a blooming period that lasted about a week. It was truly an amazing thing to see - a dead vine covered in bright blue flowers.
I’ll keep you posted as to the success or failure of the rescued agave blooms, but until then, follow the link below to see a good photo of a similar plant getting ready to bloom. I can assure you, if the buds do open, there will be hundreds of yellow flowers posted here. Then, the mother can admire her work from across the road, knowing that 35 years of waiting was well worth the effort.
More info on Agave americana via Floridata.com
This post has 6 comments
July 1st, 2008
Isn’t that the way it always seems to go? Except, I have plants that almost get there.
For example, coffee plants will begin to have beans in 3 years. Mine live to 2 years.
You know those mini banana trees? Those are cool. They will have bananas in 3 years. Mine lived to 2 years.
And then I have spider plants that don’t.
dcrs last blog post..Experiments in Semi-Secrecy
Dude, here’s the key to gardening: don’t. Seriously, we have a spider plant that gets ignored completely and it’s spawning baby spiders all over the place.
At least you had the potential to get bananas. I have a few in the yard that grow about 8ft high and produce nothing. Could be because of the dry summers we get, but I haven’t seen a banana yet.
July 1st, 2008
And now it occurs to me that those are all things I shouldn’t have said, considering I’m thinking of starting a gardening blog…
dcrs last blog post..Experiments in Semi-Secrecy
July 1st, 2008
@ Dan - I knew you were creepy - you old plant killer.
“Hi I am Dan and I kill mini banana trees- because I want the mini chimps to starve…” Who kills spider plants- those can live in the vacuum of space without dying! What did you do talk down to them or something?
@ Pete - that is a sad story whatever you can do try. I had to rescue some of my lilies- this weekend. A huge storm came up and battered the largest one. That one does not seem to want to stand back up- the smaller ones are back up and ok. The big one is still lying down- I am not sure if it will take root again and continue to flourish, or if I should call it a day and let it lie there to propagate.
The good news is that the cuttings are not wilting in their new home. I’m confident that we’ll get some flowers.
Prop up the fallen lily and see if it hangs in there. Tie it to a tomato stake or something like that. They’re pretty tough plants.
July 1st, 2008
Bummer about the stalk. If it stays as strong as it used to be, you should save the stalk. Use it for a sailboat mast or something…
Phreds last blog post..Barack Obama: the next Howard Dean
No way, have you seen the huge thorns on that thing? Besides, it split pretty low, so all it would be good for is a whipping post. Hey, now there’s an idea for when the kids are acting up…
July 1st, 2008
For the Second Shotz thing, use a slideshow, with the keyword Second Shotz.
Chicas last blog post..Creative Photo: Mystery Item
Awesome, thanks.
July 2nd, 2008
What a story! Well, I hope to see many, many yellow flowers.
soapbox moms last blog post..A Rose By Any Other Name…