BOY I thought I was in Arizona this past weekend....The weather is def changing...felt like Arizona! HOT n DRY..like 106 hot and with humidity in the low 20's THAT'S unheard of for us,,,, in JULY??? The second set of numbers is the outside tempts...check it out. Never mind the time and calendar I cant be bothered resetting that every time I change the battery in this unit...
106 Degrees
...but the humidity did arrive and some T & L storms too..then I drove into town and DANG, did I take a wrong turn????????? I was gassing up the car, looked across the street and saw this! IT was sticking up over the roof of the old John's Welding building. LIKE WAY TALLER than the building!!!!
AS the bell on the pump charmed me and soaked up the dollars, I was mesmerized by this sight and saying out loud, what the hell is that??? I knew it wasn't there before.... I pass this building every single day!!
SO when my thirsty Chevy was satiated I crossed the street to see what was growing on, I mean going on....I KNEW there was a large succulent agave plant in the "courtyard" of this old building, Ive admired it for years...and THEN I realized what this plant really is...
A Century Plant! THIS one looks to be at least 25 ft (maybe more) tall.... IVE seen them blooming in Arizona but in SC? I didn't realize this huge agave plant Ive been admiring for yrs was a century plant...and the sad part is once it blooms---- it dies! You can see the plant has already started to sing the death song..Ive heard they live about 25 yrs...reach maturity at about age 10....I know this one has been here LONGER than 10 yrs...more like 20.
THE bugs and bees are loving the blooms I hear they can sometimes stink....I didn't smell anything..
after the blooming stage pods will form, I HOPE to get a seed from one of these pods...This old building has been for sale for a LONGGGG time, so I should be able to trespass and get a few seed pods..
Pretty amazing eh? So....is it hot enough for ya?
ENJOY YOUR 4th!!
PEACE
That is quite a find in SC! Are you sure you weren't hallucinating from the heat? Say, don't they send out new plants to replace the dying one? Maybe you can dig up one of them.
ReplyDeleteOHHH thats an idea if it does ILL get one!!
DeleteWow, that's hot!
ReplyDeleteA big contrast to all the rain we are having here.
And what an amazing plant. Hope you manage to get some seeds.
Oh my goodness, I can't believe your temperatures!!! I wouldn't be able to cope with them at all. However all we have had here this year is rain, rain and more rain :-(
ReplyDeleteThat plant is incredible but what a shame that it dies after blooming, how sad.
Wish we were having some of your sun Sondra. That plant is amazing.
ReplyDeleteI've NEVER seen an agave anywhere but in the AZ desert! Somebody's an amazing gardener there. Stay cool. Our SC granddaughter is arriving in Oregon with her little boys for an extended stay -- they (she) can't stand the heat any more. (We are back in Oregon now -- she is of course staying with our daughter and soninlaw, but it will be nice to be able to see them!)
ReplyDeletePhew I can feel the heat from here .... well I cant actually as its been raining for as long as I can remember
ReplyDeleteGreat tale about the plant, but what a real shame that once it reaches its peak it dies
ooh I missed this post somehow... What a cool little discovery- hope you got in there to nab some seed pods!
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