The 100 year flower bloom in my backyard

[bluegoose]

We have this plant in our backyard that looks just like a regular old cactus plant. Its a nice enough looking plant, and is very hardy, having no problem with our wet springs, cold winters and summers that are as hot as hades. As it turns out it is a type of agave plant, the same kind used to make certain types of tequila in mexico (Probably spoken like someone who has no idea what they are talking about when discuss fine Mexican beverages). I don't have a picture of ours handy, but it looks a lot like this:



About 3 weeks ago, a sprout started to form out of the top of the plant. I thought it was just some new plant leaves growing and didn't think much of it. After not seeing it for a few days, I looked out my bedroom window one morning to find that it had grown to about 12 feet tall. In the space of less than a week. Another few days goes by and it was then 15 feet tall. We got back home from Memorial Day weekend to find that sucker is now over 20 feet tall.

As it turns out, this specimen is referred to as a "century plant", as it is thought to take up to 100 years to produce a flowering shoot like this. There are people that actually plant these things in the hopes of seeing it bloom 20-30-40 years later. No flowers on mine yet, but once it does flower, probably in the next 2 weeks or so, it will look something like this:



Here is an article my wife just found about it. I'll post some pictures when I get a chance. Sadly, once it finishes blooming they usually die within a matter of days or weeks.

[Sullyute]

That is amazing. Kind of crazy to think that it puts all its energy into a once in a lifetime bloom and then dies. I look forward to pictures of the real deal.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Cool. Kind of defies Darwin's Law, doesn't it?

[Donuthole]

It looks like that lady is admiring a giant penis. There. I said it.

[woot]

Very cool. Reminiscent of various animals; salmon and octopuses come to mind.

Cool. Kind of defies Darwin's Law, doesn't it?

Which law is that?

[creekster]

It looks like that lady is admiring a giant penis. There. I said it.

Really? Yours has branches?

[Donuthole]

Really? Yours has branches?

Yours doesn't? Monkeys are so weird.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Very cool. Reminiscent of various animals; salmon and octopuses come to mind.

Which law is that?

Just thinking that flowering every few decades like that would be a tough way to propagate the species.

[bluegoose]

Agave Americana is the full name of the plant. Here is another picture:

Just thinking that flowering every few decades like that would be a tough way to propagate the species.

It actually has sent out a number of little plants near the base. I've pulled up a number of them over the last year or so, wondering if they were stealing nutrients from the main 3 plants. Knowing that the largest one will die soon makes me think I should have kept more of the little ones around to take the big ones place.

[FN Phat]

Please post pics of the real deal. I find it fascinating.

[wuapinmon]

Yeah, that's pretty frickin' cool.

[bluegoose]

I took a couple of pictures of the plants this evening. It was a little late, so the lighting is not great.

Here are a few of the non-blooming agave plants. I didn't realize until I took the picture that the bigger one of the bunch is looking a little beat up, but you get the idea:



And here are a couple of pictures of the mature plant. Those palms next to it are close to 30 feet tall at the tips of the fronds.





I am totally intrigued by this thing now, as are several of our good friends who were over at the house the other night as we were trying to figure out what kind of plant it was. One is really upset that she will likely be out of town when it blooms and that she will return to only see its rotting remains. It has the same feel that my 5th grade class had back when Haley's Comet made its pass back in 1986. Despite how unspectacular it may appear to the disinterested eye, if you miss this bloom there is a good chance you won't get to see another.

I'll post more pictures if and when it actually blooms.

[bluegoose]

Update:

We have blooms!!!

8 or 9 flower shoots showed up yesterday They are about 3-4 inches long, projecting sideways and upward out of the top 3 or 4 feet of the stalk. Several are flowering already, and I suspect the rest will open up today.

Here is a picture I took last night. Apparently I need to be at my house sometime in daylight hours, as these pictures are all pretty poorly lit.



Sadly, the base of the plant has taken a major turn for the worse over the past 2 or 3 days. Most of the green color is quickly leaving the leaves (Get it? "Leaving" the leaves).

It won't be long until we have to place it on life support.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Very cool.

Do you have more plants like this in your yard? EDIT: Never mind. You answered this above.

[Drunk Tank]

This is cool Bluegoose! When I was a kid, we had a bunch of these growing in an alley behind our house. One day one of them had the tall stalk in the middle and a few weeks later it bloomed. Soon after, many more of them did the same. It seemed like there was at least one or two of them blooming at any given time for the 3-4 years I lived at the house.