Sunday, July 14, 2013

Century Plant Triplets--Stalk Starts

Agave, noted for use in making tequila and agave syrup (aka nectar), can also have a spectacular end-of-life stage—
that of a century plant. When an agave starts growing a stalk, the stalk can grow several inches per day, reaching up to thirty feet or more. During the upward growth, the stalk also sprouts limbs outward so that it resembles a Christmas tree.

My picture shows a trio of agaves that started sprouting. I hadn't noticed growth until early March while leaving the grocery store shopping area that I frequent. Because I'd taken series of weekly pictures of other agaves in the past, I figured this trio would be amazing to chronicle. Have never seen THREE in such close proximity.

I returned the next day (Monday, March 4) to take pictures. I hadn't been sure where a vantage point might be. I initially parked at the bank parking lot directly across from the plants. The view didn't seem good from there, so I walked to the corner of the gas station that is diagonal from the plants. That locale turned out to be reasonable spot to try to avoid taking pix w/stuff nearby. Tried timing for avoiding having cars getting into the pix.

The following is an excerpt of thoughts I'd sent email out that day:
I'm guessing we'll be in for treat of stalks and blooms from those three plants for a month. Enjoy while they last! About a year ago, a century plant sprouted up there also. Someone cut it down when it had just started blooming, I think.
My next blog post will include a few thoughts and pictures of the agaves a week later. For upcoming articles, I might or might not combine some of the weeks' pictures and thoughts. Time will tell.

View a couple of Youtube explanations of century plants:
Index to my agave posts, from the time I first spotted the set of triplets in early March to mid-June, about 3 1/2 months.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

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