How Long Does it Take a Local Century Plant to Bloom?

/ paigenash

(Stock photo of Century Plant)

If you drive on Highway 155 near Mill Creek Reservoir, slow down and take a look in Barbara Mazie Price’s yard.  (Her house is across the road from Mill Creek Church near Evans Road)  There you will see a 25 to 30 foot tall, branched stalk, laden with yellow blossoms.  The Agave Americana is commonly referred to as a century plant because it was once thought that it took 100 years for the plant to flower.

The century plant is a large, evergreen perennial which forms rosettes of thick, spiny-edged leaves up to 6 feet long.  Rather than blooming once every hundred years, the century plant typically takes about 30 years to bloom.  As the century plant nears the end of its life, it sends up the chute and blooms.  As the plant puts on flowers, new century plants emerge near its base and the process continues.

Be sure to take a look at Mrs. Price’s century plant while you can.  It will be thirty years before you get another chance.  

Article suggested by Vicki Cheatwood.

(Photos courtesy of Mike Hood)

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