KERNERSVILLE, N.C. – Ever heard of a Whales’ Tongue Hardy Century Plant? It’s just a fancy nickname for an “agave plant.”
The Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden in Kernersville boasts one of these majestic succulents right by its entrance on South Main Street.
According to Adrienne Roethling, Director of Curation Admission and Delivery for the Garden, the plant was purchased in 2007 at just a quart size. Once it arrived at the garden, it was potted into a one-gallon size.
Once it was ready to be moved in 2009, it was planted in the Xeric Scree Garden, where it is currently located in the middle of the parking lot.
Agave ovatifolia are native of the Mexican desert, and due to the little amount or nutrients and water they receive in the rocky, dry soil, it takes them up to 100 years to flower. (Hint: that’s why it’s called a “century plant.”
Thanks to North Carolina’s beautiful weather and rich soil, the plant actually grew 5 feet tall and 5 feet wide in 10 years.
On May 1, the team at the Botanical Garden noticed a flower spike growing from the center of the plant. Today, just 24 days later, it’s reached 14 feet in height.
In a press release, the Botanical Garden explains, “All summer long, flowers will attract pollinators which will give us plenty of seeds to begin new plants. But, new plantlets will also form along the stems.”
But, in the wise words of Semisonic, “every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end” and the Agave Ovatifolia will die as soon as it produces new offshoots.
So, hurry up and visit this beautiful blue-gray-leaved Agave at the Cierner Botanical Garden located at 215 South Main Street in Kernersville.
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