Monday, May 13, 2013

A Century...on Monday's Country Back Roads


This story began 3 months ago. That is how long I have been photographing the Century Plant ( Agave Americana). It is growing at the entrance gate of a farm on the Blackland Prairie, near where I live.


Have you ever seen a century plant bloom? From what I have read, it flowers once near the end of its life. The plant dies after flowering...but, the suckers from the base continue to grow.










When I first noticed the bloom stalk growing, it was already about 10 feet tall. It reminds me of asparagus growing.   











Notice there were no leaves on the trees when I first started photographing in late February.

If you cut the flower stem now, a sweet liquid called aguamiel will gather in the heart of the plant. The liquid can be fermented for a drink called pulque. If you click HERE, you can read of the many uses of the agave.

Each week, as I drove by on my trip to town, I stopped to photograph the changes. As you can see, the tree growing beside it, has now put on foliage. The bloom stalk has grown to about 25 feet tall.













It now has the beginnings of flower buds.









In the shadows of early morning, you can see how they are forming.

Several more weeks passed by, as I continued to watch the blooms.


Wasn't it worth the wait to see these beautiful blooms....

Meggie Mac

15 comments:

  1. Holy cow, that is one big plant! This is the first one I've ever seen! Great info, too. I like the windmill in the background!

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    1. Thanks Brian for your comments. Somehow this plant is also used in the making of tequila.

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  2. WOW! I've never seen anything like it!
    Jane x

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    1. Hi Jane...it is probably much too cold for it to grow where you live.

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  3. Your dedication and patience were rewarded! What an interesting plant - tequila is a drink which I have never tried - but this will make an interesting talking point next time I am down at the pub in the village.

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    1. Hello dear friend....The main ingredient from Tequila is from the Blue Agave. Someway, the Agave Americana is used to help in the making of tequila.

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  4. That's one very impressive plant Meggie, and I couldn't help but notice the beautiful blue sky you have over there.
    Kim x

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    1. When I started taking the photos, it was late February....some of those skies are overcast. But, you are right about the blue skies. Where I live, there are 229 day of sunshine in a year. Isn't that amazing!

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  5. I use Agave as a sweetener in my smoothies...never knew where it came from! So glad you thought to photograph it!

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  6. This Agave is magnificent. What beautiful scenery you have around you, my friend, XOXO

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  7. That is pretty amazing Meggie. Thank you for taking time to docuument this. I loved seeing such an interesting plant that I never knew about.


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  8. Hi Meggie, I wanted to let you know that there has been an apron post. Here is the link http://findinghomeonline.com/baking-with-kids-the-sisterhood-of-the-traveling-apron/
    Joyous Wishes, Linda

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  9. A very amazing plant, sure worth waiting taking photo´s again and again. Never seen one.And thanks for the information. Beautiful! Groetjes, Gerda

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  10. That really is an amazing plant, I didnt realize the agave plant ever flowered!

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