Some time this spring, I noticed that a large Agave put out a flower stalk. And by the end of June, it was very high (I estimated 30 feet based on the first sketch). And it was amazingly interesting to draw: the explosion of leaves at the base was overshadowed by the intricacy of all the curly parts on the tall, strong stalk - that signals the end of this plant's life.
Agave Americana has a common name "Century Plant" which comes from the fact that some plants flower only once at the end of a long life, monocarpic plants. Agave does not live a hundred years - more like 10 to 30. I did not notice this particular plant until it put up a flower despite drawing by it for many years. But I am noticing changes weekly now. It will bloom for quite some time, and then it will put out lots and lots of offshoots. Last week, there were many open flowers, and bees were having a party way up high where blossoms are.
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