Quick update on the Agave plant our Forest Hills neighbor, Jill, shared with us a couple weeks ago. The plant is beginning to bloom, she says. Here are some pictures of the plant now.

Agave Blooming

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The plant is more than 18 feet tall, last we heard.

Agave blooming 2

Jill says she doesn’t know what happens after this. I’m no plant expert (actually, I have a bit of a black thumb), but from the reading I’ve done, it should continue to sprout more blooms and eventually produce short, spiky flowers.

If you haven’t kept up with the previous stories, an Agave plant only blooms every 15 to 20 years, although it can go as long as 30 years in some cases. As exciting as it is, it’s actually kind of bittersweet when an Agave plant blooms because afterwards the whole plant dies. But, shoots (called “pups,” as a commenter pointed out in our last blog) that grow up from the base of the mother plant usually produce a brand new plant. Then in another 20 years, the process starts all over again.