I think Rob used up all our good luck this weekend.

[cactuswatcher]

Mine is not as bad a disaster as Masq's lost files, but it's still a pain.

I went out watering, and looking for flower buds among the cacti. Found a flower bud in the wrong place. See that little splotch of light color in the top of the lower plant in the icon? That's a bloom stalk. Great right? Wrong. Agaves die when they bloom and I've only had this little one for a year. There are a couple of suckers so it's not a total loss, but most of the plant you see is doomed.

Comments

The circle of life

[ann1962]

I am sorry for your plant. Will the suckers survive? How old could the plant have been as agave's bloom late in their life, right?

May be the flowers will be spectacular [hoping]! Can you get the seed even though I know that is difficult.

Re: The circle of life

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

Yes, late in life. These plants are supposed to live about five years. So I was hoping it would last a little long. The bigger specoes of agave are the ones known as century plants. I read this afternoon that this particular plant will stay green for several months after the bloom. The stalk is supposed to get at least three foot tall so that should be interesting. The plant currently is about as wide as your hand with the fingers together. The suckers act like new plants so they should live for a few years.

Re: The circle of life

[ann1962]

Hoping so. I once saw a century plant at the U of M arboretum/greenhouse that was at least 30 ft high in bloom. That was when I was under the impression that they did only bloom once a century (misnomer). It was very impressive.