My previous topic was a New Mexico century plant, a peewee compared
to the Americana this time around. I'd pic'ed the peewee in 2012 and
forgot about the images. Peek into "Forgotten Fotos of New Mexico
Century Plant (2012)" (video, article)
besides diving into the giant century plant (pix from spring 2009. I'd
recently looked into a folder named "Ancient" and found these images.
I took the Americana pix in 2009 starting from the end of March to
end of June, mostly weekly. The first eye-catch was the stalk starting
to grow upward. The plant had reached about 10' high already. By early
May, it already reached 20' and displayed branches and flower clusters.
The following resources provide some basic orientation of the Americana century plant:
Once the century plant has completed its blooming process,
it gradually begins to start dying off. ... it puts all its energy into
producing a spectacular flowering stalk just once in its lifetime,
before gracefully bowing out.
"What to Do When Your Agave Blooms"
provides overall info about the BIG EVENT. The site shows a partial
close up view of stalk with flower clusters. The flowery display, if
similar to my pix of most-robust clusters, indicates the show to be
within 80% complete.
I still have agave pix I'd taken over several years that I plan to
blog about. This one century plant project brought back memories of
having seen numerous agaves bloom. Alas, the 2023 Arborgeddon seemed to
have killed off many of them. FWIW, I have not spotted rising century
plant stalks or branchings like I used to several consecutive years.
Last month I perused my computer for images of sky objects,
predominantly moon shots. During my file manager tour, I ran across a
series of pix of a smallish century plant that inspired me to make it
this month's topic. It already showed its stalk pointing upward from its
base of leaves, aka rosette. The stalk's branches and bloom clusters
progressively grew in quantity and size.
2000 or 2012?
The pix date stamps indicated March 2 through May 8 2020. I went down
the wrong garden path when I considered the pix to be from 2000. My
title would have been a spiffy-sounding " Y2K Century Plant, 25YO
Forgotten Fotos". I kept getting some naggy feeling about time frame, so
to speak. I happened to also spot a folder that I apparently did some
low-level edits, such as rotating, then resaving to png. Those images
had date stamps of July 4 through September 8 2012.
I pored over folders and camera-issued sequence IDs. The agave pix
numbered from 1875 through 2077 (year saved, 2000). I recalled that I
have some pics with 1861, 1862, and 1866 numbers for sequence. The saved
date was June 28, 2012. I ran across some other pix in the number
sequence neighborhood, but they had 2000 for save year.
Google Maps Nudging Time Frame
I poked around Google maps to find the address where I'd seen the
plant. I saw the most recent property image from April 2024, but also
saw images from March 2022, July 2019, February 2015, April 2011, June
2009, and Dec 2007. Lucky me! The agave showed up in 2007, 2009, and
2011. However, it was nonexistent in 2015, 2019, and 2022.
I decided that July 2012 was reasonably more likely a time frame for
my set of pix than 2000. A small brain nudge was a Google image screen
capture July 4 2012—good enough for me to consider that date as an
origin.
How Special Was this Agave?
What was so special? It was smallish, shorter than some other century
plants that have rosettes taller than people and seemingly wider than a
roundish car. This agave was a peewee that I could approach closely,
its height maybe only 8' high. The diameter of the base (rosette) was
about the diameter of a manhole cover. An oddity I've not seen before or
since is the stalk's initial angle about 33° from the rosette, then its
continued growth aiming skyward.
I searched the web for smallish agaves. Two sources had images and
descriptions that lead me to conclude it was a New Mexico agave.
"New Mexico Century Plant (Agave)" includes rudimentary info resembled my specimen. The following physical info piqued my curiosity:
Note: The images of the rosettes do not show stalks. Thinking
that the height dimensions refer to distance from the ground to the tips
of the tallest leaf/leaves.
Agave parryi subsp. neomexicana is an ornamental succulent
that forms rosettes of ascending, lance-shaped, gray-green leaves with
sharp teeth along the margins and a dark brown terminal spine. The
rosettes grow up to 1.5 feet (45 cm) tall and 2 feet (60 cm) in
diameter, usually accompanied by offsets around the base. Leaves are up
to 1.5 feet (45 cm) long and 2.4 inches (6 cm) wide. This subspecies has
slightly thinner, shorter leaves than Agave parryi subsp. parryi. Also,
it has more open rosettes, larger flowers, and a greener, less glaucous
coloration.
The mature rosettes, 8 to 20 years, send up an up to 10 feet
(3 m) tall spike adorned with tufts of flowers on many lateral
branches, usually in summer. The flowers are yellow to yellowish-green
and red to orange in bud. Fruits are oblong, up to 1.4 inches (3.5 cm)
long capsules with black seeds. The rosettes die after setting fruits.
Some time, I plan to do one or more pic tour of an americana century
plant. I just rediscovered a folder of such pics from 2009! More
recently, I collected daily pics of a century plant in 2017 from March 7
to May 5.
On January 18, I spotted the agave with an emerging stalk.
(Speculating it started its growth maybe the previous week.) Its timing
seemed way earlier in a year; many others I've observed seemed to start
in early March. Furthermore, it was yellowy rather than green. After a
few more pictures, mostly weekly (last one on Feb 8), the February deep
freeze hit.
The deep freeze interrupted my attempts at Monday pic-taking for
nearly two weeks. By the time I took a pic on Feb 20, I saw that the
stalk had been cut part way, and half the leaves limp. Between that day
and March 21 (3 1/2 weeks, I was preoccupied with taking post-thaw
pictures elsewhere.) Anyway, visits on March 21 and more recent were
disappointing—bottom leaves amputated, the stalk cut even shorter, and
browning of the plant overall.
A few years ago, I'd seen agaves with leaves cut very short. Shortly
thereafter, the plants would gone. In one instance, I'd see it looking
weaker before it was removed. Because I never got to see recovery, I
thought maybe leaf removal was like amputating limbs and interrupting
nutrient flow. Also though that the exposed cross-sections might attract
disease or pests.
Trimming Agaves for Pineapple-look Effect
The final plant pix show severely trimmed leaves, but not quite as
"pineapple-y" as other cut-leaf pix I've seen online. I then thought to
Google for agave pineapple cuts or similar. Some resources on the look,
practice, and finger-waggings:
"The Pineapple Cut" shows images of agave leaf trims. One main effect is lessening the plant's diameter.
Never "pineapple" an agave (removing live leaves all the way
around the circumference of the plant leaving only a tuft at the top),
as this renders the plant susceptible to sunburn, insects, disease and
rot. If you must prune dead leaves, eliminate only the bottom layer.
Removing the pointed tips is also not recommended, mostly for aesthetic
reasons.
The origin of agave trimming came from the harvesting of
agaves for the production of tequila and mescal in throughout various
parts of Mexico. This practice is performed when the plants are ready to
be processed at the distillery a time when all the leaves must be
removed for transportation purposes. ... Not having the bottom leaves
weaken agaves and they becomes susceptible to diseases and snout weevil
attack. Other lower leaf functions include protecting the plant trunk
and the roots from the inclement sun.
Related: "So THAT'S Where Tequila Comes From"
describes a company's tequila-making process using blue agaves. One pic
shows leaves trimmed so the plants resemble pineapples.
General Agave Trimming Advice, 2021 Freeze, Freeze Advice
the sap of the agave can be caustic and cause skin and eye irritation; we would suggest wearing goggles when you cut.
first get rid of that long spine that's ready to get you in the knee or
eye. Then, decide if you want to cut farther down on that leaf or leave
it to callus over. When you have trimmed back all the leaves that are
damaged, you will probably want to keep the shape of the plant by
trimming equally all the way around. Work up from the soil level, row by
row, as needed. Remember, as formidable as they are, these plants are
succulents and can take quite a bit of abuse and still heal.
bacterial infection can enter the plant through wounds. Ordinarily, the
plant will take care of that itself by callusing over the cut when the
agave is trimmed.
"How to Help Succulents Survive Rain, Hail, Frost"
details prevention of frost damage ahead of time using cloths and
screen material. An informative section about agaves about their
cold-damage looks comes comes just before the 2-minute mark. The video
might actually be helpful in case the ice age sneaks back shortly, or
makes a return trip another season.
The time period between February 11 and February 23 was exciting for
the snow, ice, and cold, especially for power outages and boil-water
status. Eventual return to pandemic normalcy was welcome. "What Really Happened During the Texas Power Grid Outage?"
(Mar 23, 2021, runtime 16:47) is an informative video that described
the deep freeze. It has loads of info about power grid, events, images,
and animated graphs. The YouTube description also includes good content
and links. A nice touch at end of video requests that commenters be
respectful.
Environments outside were pictureworthy. I needed to take a few pix
through windows, unwilling to venture into such bone-chilling cold and
also risk ruining my camera. I created several composites and
organized into groups that show ice, snow, and aftermath. Images are
loosely organized as follows, but also include related items:
Snow, ice, damages to tree branches and other plants
Neighborhood walk February 12 (day after a big snow dump)
Neighborhood walk March 11 post-thaw
Additional related miscellany
I poked around the web for determining post-freeze damages for some
plants. Also stumbled on some plant info I hadn't known before, and some
that reinforced info from previous research.
Deep-freeze Damages
Two sources are from February 25, but seem to have content that describes the aftermath of the freeze.
The ones nearest and dearest to my heart for this article are sago,
tree cholla, and cinnamon cactus. Pic'd in the video, but unmentioned in
this section, are thread-leaf agave, photinia, and prickly pear.
"How to Prune a Sago Palm" didn't provide much in the way of images, but caught my eye with bulleted advice:
Sago palms are toxic, so wear gloves and be careful when touching
the plants. Also don’t let your animals near them or to eat them.
Prune from the bottom up, clearing the fronds at the trunk by 6″ to
2ft. These are the oldest and lowest leaves and it helps increase air
flow.
Only remove completely dead and damaged fronds. Cutting healthy
fronds can weaken the plant, but you can expose the trunk of the palm
for ornamental purposes by removing extra fronds.
Don’t trim sago palm fronds that are between 10 and 2 o’clock positions.
I asked for help in IDing an unusual deserty plant. "cholla" bubbled
to my consciousness. I stumbled upon "jumping cholla", which didn't
resemble the plant much. Shortly afterward, I received suggestions of
"tree cholla" (Cylindropuntia imbricata), at Wikipedia and World of Succulents.
Such a cute plant cluster, resembling miniature prickly pear
"paddles"! I did Google image search with that description in mind. When
I stumbled on a candidate plant, I spotted an image of a cinnamon
cactus. The page at "World of Succulents"
even parenthetically refers to it as "Cinnamon Bunny Ears". One image
in my video contrasts the iced-over plant with the post-freeze thaw. As
the homeowner scraped most other deserty plants, time will tell if it
survives.
Related: "2023 Ice 'N' Arborgeddon" article | video
Gone. Gone. Gone. No Lefty left anymore. From three century plants to none, it's been an interesting mission to photograph the plants weekly and publish weekly articles. The five images illustrate my article's title.
In composing this last article, I decided I'd go take one more set of pix to compare June 17 and publish day of today—October 27. The pixstrip shows a bit of difference in plant looks from then to today, although not so much for the agaves. Weirdly, when I stepped up to the plants yesterday for a look-see, I was surprised to see no evidence of stalks having been cut. The centers were tightly wound, each coming to sharp points.
The only plan I originally had was taking pictures from one spot, all on Mondays around the same time except for one Tuesday session, and coming up with thoughts for that day. Oh, some of the thoughts might have come a day later. Most obvious "tweak" is the one for June 17's shoot.
It didn't take many weeks to consider taking additional pictures at other angles. I took several from across the street. Unfortunately, other nearby foliage tended to obscure the century plants, so I omitted most of them from the series of articles.
I buddied up more with my PaintShopPro tool (very old at version 7.04) over the months:
Played with shapes for outlines and backgrounds.
Cropped images by way of canvas size and window selections.
Placed images on same canvases.
Resized pixstrips by percentages.
Made slight image rotations, aligning poles to working grids.
In placing previous and current week images next to each other, it was interesting to see changes for comparisons. I found my own way to format the articles for a certain consistency. If you like the series, please spread the word. Thanks!
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
2025 Slide-show version of the triplets saga-"Revisiting Century Plant Triplets, Weekly Shots Over 16 Weeks" (video | article)
Lefty looks nearly identical as in the previous week's pix. One obvious difference is about 1/4 the distance up, to the left of the metal pole. The June 3 pic shows a white object, the June 10 pic doesn't. In looking over past images, that area has had parked cars and a dumpster.
Although Lefty looks about the same for those June 3 and 10, May 27 was the date that showed a change from its former majestic erectness. The October 6 article contrasts three weeks, with the last image showing a definite lean.
The rightside angle pix show Lefty looking nearly identical—only the sky showing contrast. The June 3 sky is about as flat blue as can be; the June 10 sky displays a couple of puffy clouds seeming to align horizontally with Lefty's peak.
My thoughts of the pix for that day:
Amazingly, the lone stalk is still there! The top is starting to look a bit raggedy. If I were to use a human adjective, I'd say the top looked a bit gaunt.
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
2025 Slide-show version of the triplets saga-"Revisiting Century Plant Triplets, Weekly Shots Over 16 Weeks" (video | article)
On June 3, Lefty still stands, and with bloom clusters, but taking on a darker look than the previous week. Although the May 27 pic looks more bright andvibrant than the one from June 3, it's comparative views that influence perception. View the May 27th pic in my previous
article's pixstrip, and notice how lackluster Lefty looks there. (Click for larger older/newer side-by-side image of May 27 and June 3.)
This is one of the few times I decided I'd post some pix from another angle, although I have been taking front-view and rightside-view pix for a few weeks. I did post some at the bottom of my 11th-week article ("Century Plant Triplets--11th Week, Oh Solo Me Oh!"). The May 27 and June 3 rightside pix below show more contrast between the skies than with Lefty. Love that blueness on June 3! Oddly, the cloudiness in the May 27 pic looks much less ominous than in the "feature" images at the top of the article.
My thoughts of the pix for that day:
The lone stalk still stands, but it's definitely leaning, and the foliage looking less lush. I anticipate this week to be its last week as an upstanding plant in the corner.
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
2025 Slide-show version of the triplets saga-"Revisiting Century Plant Triplets, Weekly Shots Over 16 Weeks" (video | article)
I decided to deviate from my recent formats of two weeks' pictures side-by-side. As I started prepping the pix for May 20 and 27, I was struck by how much more vibrant Lefty's May 20th pic looked than May 27th. Yet, the pixstrip for May 13 and May 20th showed Lefty's May 20th condition to be drab, which I remarked in my 12th century plants article.
Comparative pix can affect perception. The pixstrip shows Lefty for May 13, 20, 27. (Click for larger older/newer side-by-side image.) Note that for each of those picture days, the sky conditions seem to correlate with Lefty's bloom clusters condition.
May 13—blue sky with Lefty's bright and robust clusters
May 20—overcast with Lefty's drabness indicating its decline
May 27—cloudiness with Lefty's drabness, seemingly conveying withdrawal from its former glory
Try covering one of three pix and compare visual states. Try looking at #1 and #2 together, #2 and #3 together, and #1 and #3 together.
My thoughts of the pix for that day:
Surprised that the single stalk is still there! Took the set of pix around 10:40 today, about an hour earlier than I'd been shooting in the previous weeks. Worked out really well. A lot less traffic both moving and standing, maybe because of the holiday, might have also helped make picture taking easier than usual. Comparing this week's to last week's pix, can see the "crowns" starting to diminish.
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
2025 Slide-show version of the triplets saga-"Revisiting Century Plant Triplets, Weekly Shots Over 16 Weeks" (video | article)
Lefty's bloom clusters display a dramatic dulling of color intensity from the previous week—brightness on May 13, drabness on May 20, as the above pixstrip shows. The pixstrip below shows the larger and zoomed-out older/newer side-by-side image.
My thoughts of the pix for that day:
The single stalk is still there! Unlike the previous few weeks, the stalk counts didn't go three, then two, then one, then none. It is only a matter of time before the property owners cut it down before it falls down. The view is another chance to see the progress, or decline, if you will, of the plant to its eventual end.
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
2025 Slide-show version of the triplets saga-"Revisiting Century Plant Triplets, Weekly Shots Over 16 Weeks" (video | article)
So goes Righty. Actually Righty does go, but Lefty stays for now, all by itself. Peewee departed the scene the previous week. On this beautiful blue-sky day, solo Lefty looks magnificent, a great century plant specimen in its prime with bloom clusters resembling cheerleader pom-poms. The pixstrip shows the century plants for May 6 and May 13. (Click for larger older/newer side-by-side image.)
Oh, solo me, oh.
Now by myself.
My buds ain't no mo',
Just Lefty's left.
How much time,
I've got to stay,
I don't know what's what,
I just don't know squat.
My thoughts of the pix for that day:
On Thursday, May 9, I drove by the corner to view the plants. Only one left. Thought about deliberately deviating from my Monday noonish pic shoot and taking pix Friday, but didn't. Crossed my fingers and hoped the property owners didn't have an order in for lopping the last one, as Friday, being a workday, might be a likely cutoff (g) day. Thought maybe I'd take pix Saturday. Nope. By the time Sunday rolled around, I figured I might as well shoot Monday.
Friday morning, I sent email to Portraits of Wildflowers blogger Steven Schwartzman that only one stalk remained. He wrote back shortly and replied that he noticed the previous day that only one century plant was left.
I took my usual diagonal-view pictures. For comparative pictures to newer angle ones that I took the previous week, I took some from across the street (1st pixstrip below) and from the right (2nd pixstrip).
The angle of the previous two weeks' rightside pix was about 45 degrees. For May 13, I stepped back farther so I could better frame Lefty in the background. That pic includes part of the tower, and the company's masonry sign is now right of the wooden pole, narrower than in the other two rightside pix.
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
2025 Slide-show version of the triplets saga-"Revisiting Century Plant Triplets, Weekly Shots Over 16 Weeks" (video | article)
Peewee's gone! The pixstrip shows the century plants for April 29 and May 6. (Click for larger older/newer side-by-side image.) Lefty and Righty are in full blooms. Lefty and Righty look to be in full robustness. Alas, poor Peewee. I suspect caretakers cut it down rather than risk having Peewee fall over onto a vehicle stopped in traffic, or pose a road hazard with downed stalk and bloom clusters.
Over the last few years, I've spotted some singular century plants in the initial sprouting stage. A plant would sprout a stalk, spread bloom clusters, which later are surrounded by busy bees boisterously buzzing bulky blooms, ... (Say that last phrase fast multiple times, why dontcha?) One day, the plant would be gone, or cut near the base.
Apparently, cutting a century plant down comes with hazards. Dave's Garden has a webpage that includes posts about stalk removals, with or without blooms. Apparently, the sap can be very painful and dangerous to contact.
My thoughts of the pix for that day:
On Friday, May 3, I received email from Portraits of Wildflowers blogger Steven Schwartzman that he took pix of the "the two remaining century plants". That meant one [plant] is missing, most likely, cut down. On Monday, May 6, I took my pictures and confirmed it was the leaning Peewee that's gone. Thus, the one [pic] I have for Monday, April 29 was the last one I have in my possession with all three plants. I feel lucky that I decided to take the pic last Monday (April 29) while Peewee was still there.
The main pic is the one that I've been taking from the square at the gas station. The second one is the view from the bank across the street. (Tossed out several pictures because of bad timing with cars in the way.) The third one is the view from about 45 degrees from the right. The two remaining plants look like leaners. We'll see how much longer they fare [fare well before the farewell, that is].
In my thoughts for that day, I had intended to use the second and third pictures as individual ones. For this article, I decided to make comparative composites of April 29 and May 6 images for both front and right side views.
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
2025 Slide-show version of the triplets saga-"Revisiting Century Plant Triplets, Weekly Shots Over 16 Weeks" (video | article)
Uh oh. Peewee's leaning angle looks like it's doubled from one week to the next. The pixstrip shows the agave triplets pics for those April 22and April 29. (Click for larger older/newer side-by-side image.) Except for Peewee's bigger leaning angle, the plants look nearly unchanged, seemingly finished with growth spurts and obvious bulking up.
Last week in article #8, I mentioned I'd have "more info about and by the knowledgeable someone … about multiple-stalk century plants". My curiosity about multiple-stalk century plants vs. the set of triplets I'd been writing about stemmed (grin) from the caption for Will and Mary Ross' picture (about 3/4 down the webpage) that indicated a single plant with three stalks— "he was so proud when it bloomed -- and three bloom stalks is rare".
From having read that when conditions were good, agaves grew their stalks and bloom clusters amazingly fast as their last gasp for reproduction. Seemed to me that all the energy could go into only one stalk. Anyway, Dave Moellendorf, at the Austin Cactus and Succulents Society plant sale on Saturday, August 31, 2013, explains how a single century plant can have multiple stalks. (Yes, I'd like you to visit my very first YouTube video production—1 minute and 15 seconds—for more information about Dave.)
My thoughts of the pix for that day:
Peewee is leaning quite lot more. Thinking it's only a matter of time before the property owners cut it, if not all three plants, for fear of hazard or damage to cars from falling over. One other century plant in that clump bloomed just about a year ago, but was cut down.
Today, I also took a pic from the bank across the street. Quite a different view, with Peewee not looking like a leaner. THOSE pix were hard to time for shooting because of numerous cars passing right in front of the plants or stopped, compared to POV from the gas station square. (From the square in front of the gas station, the plants look like they're inline and evenly spaced -> * * *. )
The three asterisks represent the plants' apparent alignment and spacing. The following across-the-street pic shows that Peewee is to the right side of the other two plants and all three plants lean somewhat. In the approach-from-right-side pic, which I did not mention in my blockquote, Peewee looks upright, and the other two plants lean to the left.
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
2025 Slide-show version of the triplets saga-"Revisiting Century Plant Triplets, Weekly Shots Over 16 Weeks" (video | article)
Happy Labor Day weekend, statesiders! In the April 22 image, the triplets are very robust. They all grew a little taller, and gained a smidge more bulk at the branches and bloom clusters. However, Peewee is looking unbalanced, maybe a bad sort of top-heavy. I initially thought that "leaning" would be a reasonable adjective for Peewee, but "lopsided" seems even better. The pixstrip shows the agave triplets pics for those April 15 and April 22. (Click for larger older/newer side-by-side image.)
From TheFreeDictionary, a definition for "lopsided" that fits well is "leaning or inclined to one side". OTOH, "leaning" could be an appropriate adjective also.
departing or being caused to depart from the true vertical or horizontal; "the leaning tower of Pisa"; "the headstones were tilted"
Come to think of it, Peewee's angle is similar to that of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Recently, a friend wondered about weight for a stalk and blooms. I was not able to find much information. Wikipedia had a general mention:
Each agave plant will produce several pounds of edible flowers during its final season. The stalks, which are ready during the summer, before the blossom, weigh several pounds each.
A few weeks ago, I emailed a plant-knowledgeable neighbor and asked if he might know the weight of a stalk and bloom clusters. He didn't know, but gave a guess that the stalk would have lots of water in it and that each flower cluster would be a few pounds. He suggested using geometry for calculating the volume of the stalk, then multiplying the volume by the the weight of water for the same volume.
Yesterday, at the Austin Cactus & Succulent Society 2013 Fall Show & Sale (Zilker Botanical Garden), someone helping out a vendor friend thought a stalk and bloom clusters could weigh a few hundred pounds until the plant dried out. Next week, I'll have more info about and by the knowledgeable someone for article #9 about multiple-stalk century plants.
Note: The sale continues today. In case you miss the sale, the webpage lists the expected vendors and contact info.
My thoughts of the pic for that day:
Even bluer day for taking pix! Blossoms more noticeably robust, especially at the tops. But, uh-oh, Peewee in the middle is leaning rightward. If property caretakers fret over possible fallover, they might cut the entire stalk before the agave finishes its natural course.
Just about a year ago, a century plant at the same location started blooming, reaching skyward, about the same stage these plants are now. Suddenly, it was gone. I'll see how the plants progress next week, keeping my fingers crossed for their existence.
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
2025 Slide-show version of the triplets saga-"Revisiting Century Plant Triplets, Weekly Shots Over 16 Weeks" (video | article)
April 15 (tax day!) was a beautiful blue-sky day, and the subjects' details crisper than on April 8. Amazingly, these century plants continued upward growth even while continuing to grow outward. And the bloom clusters grew bigger. The pixstrip shows the agave triplets pics for those two days. (Click for larger older/newer side-by-side image.)
Last week, although I talked about gauging heights, the image of a couple in front of their own century plant triplets piqued my interest more than just guestimating the stalks' heights. During the browsing, I landed on Ross Family Photographs, where the same picture had the accompanying text "Will and Mary Ross by century plant in their yard in Burnet, TX, about 1948; he was so proud when it bloomed -- and three bloom stalks is rare".
I noticed a link to Will and Mary's 50th anniversary, which occurred in 1952. I wrote the website owner, Doris Ross Johnston, to talk about the plant and the couple—that it is nice to have such an interesting plant and the couple for height reference, and info about the long marriage, particularly so long ago. Doris noted, "Grandma and Grandpa were rather unusual for that time to have a Golden wedding anniversary. I think it's more common now that people usually live longer."
I wanted revisit heights this week, with a slight bit of refinement. I used a copy of this week's picture to further refine use of the street sign's height (two feet) to indicate how tall the plants are. I started with the bottom edge of the first sign in line with the start of the street sign post. From there, I stacked multiple images. At the top of the plants, I pasted sign images horizontally, with some offset by half the heights (one foot).
Observations about the previous to newer week:
All three look about a foot taller than the previous week.
Lefty reaches halfway up the "hangman's noose", and is champeen at 24 feet. (I don't know what that wiry formation is or does.)
Peewee reached the upper wire (18 1/2 feet).
Righty's up to 22 feet.
My thoughts of the pic for that day:
Much clearer day for taking pix! A bit more blossomy development, more noticeable at the tops. Peewee in the middle's doing pretty good also!
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
2025 Slide-show version of the triplets saga-"Revisiting Century Plant Triplets, Weekly Shots Over 16 Weeks" (video | article)
The pixstrip shows the agave triplets pics from April 2 and April 8. At first glance, they don't seem to have changed much. (Click for larger older/newer side-by-side image.) The shot-put-ball-like blooms seem to show the biggest difference.
During a Google search for "century plant bloom", I spotted the image, which also included a man and woman, good for providing relative height comparison. I estimated the century plants' height to be about 15 feet, based on approximately three times the height of the couple.
FWIW, a few weeks ago, when I went to measure the physical sign height to verify that sign's dimensions, I recalled I had to stretch my arm upward to reach the bottom of the sign. My height and arm totals seven feet, give or take an inch.
While I was playing with this pixstrip composition, I noticed that the distance between the two upper wires happened to be about the height of the street sign. Observations about the previous to newer week:
Lefty looks to have peaked in vertical growth.
Peewee grew about another half a foot.
Righty grew about another foot.
All three plants' bloom clusters at the end of their "arms" look a bit more robust.
Peewee and Righty look to be fistbumping at one spot.
My thoughts of the pic for that day:
Barely sprinkly weather. Very similar to the pic from April 2, but branches spread out a little wider, bloomer clusters a bit bigger.
It's apparent that my thoughts on April 8 were nowhere in the neighborhood of heights like my thoughts today. Running across the century plant triplets that I found online nudged me to infer measurements and methodologies for the two sets of century plant triplets and distance between two wires.
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
2025 Slide-show version of the triplets saga-"Revisiting Century Plant Triplets, Weekly Shots Over 16 Weeks" (video | article)
My profession had been technical writer/editor. Through TheWriteJob clublet (blog at http://thewritejob.blogspot.com), I have been exploring my inner creative writing, which includes mostly language enlightenment, entertainment, and a-muse-meant. Over time, I have become more active with images and my YouTube channel.
