Growing Century Plant from Seeds, Days 0-14

Описание: I've seen century plants all around Southern California and know the wonders of their monstrous inflorescences that tower over everything. When these are in bloom it is truly a sight to be seen with pollinators of all kinds buzzing audibly around the flowers in the sky. It doesn't take a century to flower and die but rather 25 years. These plants create clonal colonies of themselves through adventitious shoots.

Agave americana, common names centuryplant, maguey, or American aloe, is a species of flowering plant in the family Agavaceae, originally native to Mexico, and the United States in Arizona and Texas. Today it cultivated worldwide as an ornamental plant. It has become naturalized in many regions including the West Indies, parts of South America, the southern Mediterranean Basin, parts of Africa, India, China, Thailand, New Zealand, and Australia.

Although it is called the century plant, it typically lives only 10 to 30 years. It has a spread of about 6–10 ft (1.8–3.0 m) with gray-green leaves of 3–5 ft (0.9–1.5 m) long, each with a prickly margin and a heavy spike at the tip that can pierce to the bone. Near the end of its life, the plant sends up a tall, branched stalk, laden with yellow blossoms, that may reach a total height of up to 25–30 ft (8–9 m) tall.

Its common name derives from its semelparous nature of flowering only once at the end of its long life. The plant dies after flowering, but produces suckers or adventitious shoots from the base, which continue its growth.