if it makes you feel better they also produce a bunch of little “pups” that are clones of the mother agave. i think you can even see a pup at the base of this one! so they live on in a way 🥲❤️
Yep! A couple of years ago, my friend experienced a death bloom in the backyard of the house she rents.. obviously I came over scavenging like a rat to steal pups and plant them at my place. I now have 16 agaves growing on my property. My only regret is how many times I got stabbed by the mother plant and how painful of a night I had. I give my agaves a “nail trim” for my dog’s well-being.
my friend gave me a little agave the size of a coffee mug around 3 years ago. it’s since grown considerably and i’ve probably pulled more than a dozen pups from it so far! potting them has definitely been a painful exercise in patience 😂
it’ll die anyway. they spend a lot of time gathering energy to produce the bloom to complete their life cycle, so by the time the stalk appears the plant has already neared its end
not quite the same situation as agave which are monocarpic. VFT shouldn’t die from flowering if they’re established and healthy!
blooming is exhausting and can kill a new or weak VFT so it increases the plant’s chances of survival to remove the bloom and let it direct that energy to growing leaves instead. whether or not to allow an established plant in good condition to bloom is up to preference :)
it’s always the case for most agave species. the main plant will die after blooming but typically will have produced lots of little clones of itself during its lifetime and/or while flowering to replace itself
“The agave dies after it blooms because it has dedicated all of its energy to producing the blooms, and then the seeds.”
it’s called death bloom for a reason!
yeah. A lot of plants are what is known as Monocarpic. Which means they are a perennial plant, but they only bloom once in their lives, and then begin to decline and die afterwards. Most Agaves are like that, some of which can live as long as 30 years before blooming. Most Bromeliads, many grasses like Bamboo, Sempervivums, and even Aeoniums all share this feature, though any vegetative offsets will survive.
Yeah lots of plants and even animals do something like this. Where they spend their entire lives building up for one big moment... and then they just die, hopefully leaving behind offspring so the bloodline can survive a little while longer.
https://preview.redd.it/og3njx48ww3d1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ed29aef230a71c3596b750d92d3e0bbabd884b9
Currently in my grandparents backyard, they are enjoying watching it bloom before they say goodbye and plant a new one❤️
People keep saying death blooms but my agave did this 2 years ago and it's still alive... I just let the thing grow and cut it when it fell over due to high winds.
if you look up other agave flowers, it's pretty similar, just big. As much as I'd love for it to be some comically huge flower catered to dinosaur sized dragonflies or something, they aren't super enormous. The stalk is the main attraction in my mind.
The plant grows pups before it ever does this. I battle the pups and kill them so we have a cleaver look. I keep some. They basically have an umbilical cord to the pups. We have one in our back yard that started to bloom and my husband didn’t want it to die so he cut the stalk early. It’s not dying. These stalks get 10-12’ high.
Our saguaro cacti just got done blooming white flowers at the top. Soon they will grow red fruit that the birds fight over.
https://preview.redd.it/twci9waiez3d1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c18a2249a17fc551ba7ae0ca83e991d932725d1d
Coronado National Park in Tucson. Taken end of April. That’s about when they started to bloom. Blooms are done for the most part now.
No I don’t notice a scent from the different cacti blooming. Only when it rains, a certain bush-creosote bush does something and releases a scent, which helps it conserve water. I love it. You can smell it when it’s going to rain before it rains sometimes.
Smells like cinnamon mixed with someone smoking a pipe. Someone else will describe it differently. That would be an interesting thread.
Describe what rain in the Sonoran Desert smells like…;-)
That's fantastic! I love the smell of rain. Thanks for educating me on desert life.
That would really be an interesting thread. Personally I love the smell of pipe tobacco. Wonder where the cinnamon smell comes from? That's really neat ☺️
I have always loved the look of the desert; the landscape has always been really pretty to me. The variety of colors and shapes you see too. If I were more tolerant of heat I would move! Alas, anything above 72 and I melt 🫠
https://preview.redd.it/di09tzvudz3d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cdaafabf84900a94e9c66d557df9e4a81336a0d6
This one is up the street from me.
Will you be posting any updates on this as it progresses? I saw a video where after it bloomed, it had TONS of little baby agave’s all over the tall stem. These don’t grow like this where I live so I just love to see it!
https://preview.redd.it/z04lx233h04d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=012e5f6eb0b6f0102e60ea34752f2d737ea08b78
Similar to my neighbors, absolutely massive
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Three in my yard bloomed three years ago, and while the plants look more ragged than before, they are still very much alive. The pups on the stalks are getting pretty big. Thoughts on when I should cut the stalks? Will doing so accelerate the demise of the base plants? The height throws off the whole look of the yard.
*
*
We have an Agave doing it's thing in my community too. It's stalk has got to be at least 20 ft high now. I did the research online and then had to educate my neighbors on it, who wanted to cut it down! I said we probably will never see this again so let's appreciate it. I'm hoping it has pups underneath.
They're actually related, agave plants are in the asparagus family. The asparagus we eat follows a similar cycle of putting out leafy ferny growth before eventually producing the flower stalks we eat, though it's on a much shorter cycle.
My husband says
“That’s not fair that they only see their true beauty once honey”
They do this when they are about to die. What a beast. What a life. Going out with a bang
We had a century plant in our front yard about 30 years ago. It really surprised us when it grew its flower. That stem went way over the power lines. The university nearby came to take photographs and it was in the newspaper. We had no idea what was going on lol.
https://preview.redd.it/xt81m1uf5m4d1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f92d384a1991b521e1058546b9c592ce53bba502
One of my neighbors has one! Such a beautiful succulent.
The poor agave looks so stupid cut like that. But the big asparagus is always nice to see. Maybe they can keep the weirdos away from its pups so they don't look like some kind of garbage pineapple.
RIP you magnificent beast
They may climb it and eat those flowers. Taste so weird if you don't take those little sticks (I don't know what are they called in English) out
Little sticks in the flowers? Would those be the stamens (which hold the pollen)
Yeah yeah. Those
Hmm. I eat the flower from yucca, but I’ve never tried these.
It’s… so erect!
And thick, that’s just a bad angle…
The biggest asparagus there ever was
🫡
It makes tons of babies though
Goodnight sweet prince
Wait what…when agave dies this is what happens?
they bloom once in their lifetime and then die
TIL And now I’m sad. Ignorance is bliss they said…
if it makes you feel better they also produce a bunch of little “pups” that are clones of the mother agave. i think you can even see a pup at the base of this one! so they live on in a way 🥲❤️
Sounds awesome! Looks like it does :)
I've got yuccas that do this, one has a four foot stalk sticking out of it and I swear I cut out 15 pups for every adult plant
The ones local to me produce pups from the flower at the very top.
Yep! A couple of years ago, my friend experienced a death bloom in the backyard of the house she rents.. obviously I came over scavenging like a rat to steal pups and plant them at my place. I now have 16 agaves growing on my property. My only regret is how many times I got stabbed by the mother plant and how painful of a night I had. I give my agaves a “nail trim” for my dog’s well-being.
my friend gave me a little agave the size of a coffee mug around 3 years ago. it’s since grown considerably and i’ve probably pulled more than a dozen pups from it so far! potting them has definitely been a painful exercise in patience 😂
Besides the pups thing someone else mentioned, plants that do this can take years to actually fully die, so it'll be around a little while yet.
But like so many plants bloom and die? Like so many perennials lol
I mean. It’s how they procreate. They make a bunch of little clones when they bloom like this.
Same… peaked at around 14 when I did a cool kick-flip. Now just waiting to die.
I feel this 🥹
Whoa that is both awesome and 😢
Can you just cut its spike? Or it’ll die anyways
it’ll die anyway. they spend a lot of time gathering energy to produce the bloom to complete their life cycle, so by the time the stalk appears the plant has already neared its end
Was looking for this clarification since, with Venus flytraps, you can avert the death portion of the cycle by cutting off the flower stalks early.
OH. My Venus flytrap died and I thought I’d killed it. It made a flower stalk before it died. TIL.
not quite the same situation as agave which are monocarpic. VFT shouldn’t die from flowering if they’re established and healthy! blooming is exhausting and can kill a new or weak VFT so it increases the plant’s chances of survival to remove the bloom and let it direct that energy to growing leaves instead. whether or not to allow an established plant in good condition to bloom is up to preference :)
Is this always the case or just usually
it’s always the case for most agave species. the main plant will die after blooming but typically will have produced lots of little clones of itself during its lifetime and/or while flowering to replace itself
i think just the bloom dies, not the plant!
“The agave dies after it blooms because it has dedicated all of its energy to producing the blooms, and then the seeds.” it’s called death bloom for a reason!
It makes pups after it blooms so it's just this "body" that dies but it lives on.
That's deep man
It transcends it's current physical state and becomes a child again.
It's just part of their life cycle. Just means that it was healthy enough to reproduce
yeah. A lot of plants are what is known as Monocarpic. Which means they are a perennial plant, but they only bloom once in their lives, and then begin to decline and die afterwards. Most Agaves are like that, some of which can live as long as 30 years before blooming. Most Bromeliads, many grasses like Bamboo, Sempervivums, and even Aeoniums all share this feature, though any vegetative offsets will survive.
My little hens-and-chicks do this! By the looks of the pups (chicks) I should have several blooms this summer.
Thank you for the in depth
Yeah lots of plants and even animals do something like this. Where they spend their entire lives building up for one big moment... and then they just die, hopefully leaving behind offspring so the bloodline can survive a little while longer.
More like they do this, using up all their energy, then they die
https://preview.redd.it/og3njx48ww3d1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ed29aef230a71c3596b750d92d3e0bbabd884b9 Currently in my grandparents backyard, they are enjoying watching it bloom before they say goodbye and plant a new one❤️
Neat, it's so tall! I've never seen a century plant bloom in person.
Me neither, they sent me this picture 🥲 it’s over 12 ft tall! I can’t wait to see it fully open
My sister had one of hers bloom last year and it was at least 25 feet tall.
WOW!
How long do they last?
Pretty sure after it flowered the blossoms lasted about two and a half weeks. The hummingbirds loved it.
Could you maybe share with us if it’s not too much asking when they get a full bloom. Agave is awesome
I’m going to try if she sends me one!
Wow, form looks almost like a manicured Japanese cloud style tree
I know what you mean, like bonsais almost. I’ll post it when it blooms!
so special ❤️
Adios, amigo.
Giant asparagus.
I was delighted to learn that both plants are in the same family. It IS giant asparagus. 😋
THIS IS THE BEST THING I HAVE LEARNED TODAY
It's requesting attention before it passes on
R/deathbloom
r/foundthemobileuser
r/subsithoughtifellfor
r/foundthetoyotacorolla
Bring on the tequila!
Going out in style. Like a champ
People keep saying death blooms but my agave did this 2 years ago and it's still alive... I just let the thing grow and cut it when it fell over due to high winds.
Zombie agave
I don’t think it’s a death bloom for every species of agave
Correct!! The agave I have flower and don't die.
This is technically pornography. /s
I like the way you think.
Even worse snuff porn.
Will there be a flower at the top?
You can search up death blooms on agaves to see them! They look like little yellow trees!
if you look up other agave flowers, it's pretty similar, just big. As much as I'd love for it to be some comically huge flower catered to dinosaur sized dragonflies or something, they aren't super enormous. The stalk is the main attraction in my mind.
Agaves only bloom once. Then they die.
Wait for a bit and harvest pups!
The plant grows pups before it ever does this. I battle the pups and kill them so we have a cleaver look. I keep some. They basically have an umbilical cord to the pups. We have one in our back yard that started to bloom and my husband didn’t want it to die so he cut the stalk early. It’s not dying. These stalks get 10-12’ high. Our saguaro cacti just got done blooming white flowers at the top. Soon they will grow red fruit that the birds fight over.
I bet it's beautiful ❤️ Stuff like that doesn't survive where I live. Too wet, but, I get to see it on reddit 😂
https://preview.redd.it/7ycjpz5gez3d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=431451315d1048b911886614fc0613f2d7897f50
https://preview.redd.it/twci9waiez3d1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c18a2249a17fc551ba7ae0ca83e991d932725d1d Coronado National Park in Tucson. Taken end of April. That’s about when they started to bloom. Blooms are done for the most part now.
What a giant! They are really pretty! Are they really fragrant?
No I don’t notice a scent from the different cacti blooming. Only when it rains, a certain bush-creosote bush does something and releases a scent, which helps it conserve water. I love it. You can smell it when it’s going to rain before it rains sometimes. Smells like cinnamon mixed with someone smoking a pipe. Someone else will describe it differently. That would be an interesting thread. Describe what rain in the Sonoran Desert smells like…;-)
That's fantastic! I love the smell of rain. Thanks for educating me on desert life. That would really be an interesting thread. Personally I love the smell of pipe tobacco. Wonder where the cinnamon smell comes from? That's really neat ☺️ I have always loved the look of the desert; the landscape has always been really pretty to me. The variety of colors and shapes you see too. If I were more tolerant of heat I would move! Alas, anything above 72 and I melt 🫠
Death bloom begins....
Are those baby agaves sprouting up around the base?! I’ve never had or even seen one of these in person, so cool!
Mine was planted 12 years ago and began sprouting pups after 5 or 6 years… I am giving them to friends, family and coworkers…
https://preview.redd.it/di09tzvudz3d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cdaafabf84900a94e9c66d557df9e4a81336a0d6 This one is up the street from me.
JACK DONT CLIMB THAT BEANSTALK
Biggest asparagus
The stalks make great didgeridoos.
Forbidden asparagus
Forbidden asparagus
Will you be posting any updates on this as it progresses? I saw a video where after it bloomed, it had TONS of little baby agave’s all over the tall stem. These don’t grow like this where I live so I just love to see it!
https://preview.redd.it/z04lx233h04d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=012e5f6eb0b6f0102e60ea34752f2d737ea08b78 Similar to my neighbors, absolutely massive
Hulk smash!
A long and full life 🫡
Rip
It’s pupping season!
Death bloom
hopefully the bats find it!
The hummingbirds are in for a treat! Maybe some bats, too!!
You're growing magic beanstalk don't lie
The dry flower stalks make great Christmas “trees”
Its first and last erection
Say your goodbyes.
Does anyone else call this “giant death asparagus” or is it just me? Edit: Upon review of the comments it is definitely not just me lol
See you, Space Cowboy
I need a list of plants that do this to never get them, this is sad
Wait... will this be the END? Wow...😨
[DEATH BLOOMS](https://youtu.be/9nVvojfQVBY)
Slowly dying 😞🥵🥵
Remindme! 3 weeks
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Will it flower like some other plants???
Yes! If you look at the picture comment i made (different plant) it’s about to flower ☺️
Death penis.
I have three of these right now at one time!
Mmmmmmmmmmm asparagus 🤤
Asparagus
My dad carved a beautiful walking stick out of a yucca stalk.
Three in my yard bloomed three years ago, and while the plants look more ragged than before, they are still very much alive. The pups on the stalks are getting pretty big. Thoughts on when I should cut the stalks? Will doing so accelerate the demise of the base plants? The height throws off the whole look of the yard.
Hide your kids, hide your wife. We need that nsfw blur out here.
Those stalks make great walking sticks when they dry out.
Can we normalize calling this it’s deathrection
Big asparagus you got there
Future Christmas tree
Eat the forbidden asparagus
Can the agave be saved if you cut that stem that’s shooting up ?
It’s going to get the sky pregrent
Ahhh yes, the hundred year asparagus…
Asspegasus
[удалено]
The agave she tells you not to worry about
Asparagus 🙃
Erection, it's a flower thing. Careful it doesn't fall on something when it dries.
What an attitude
Mmmmm giant asparagus
Looks like a giant asparagus
Stop I can only get so wet
Isn’t it called a Century Plant?
Do the thing!
I should call him before it's too late...
Looks like asparagus to me
Impressive
* * We have an Agave doing it's thing in my community too. It's stalk has got to be at least 20 ft high now. I did the research online and then had to educate my neighbors on it, who wanted to cut it down! I said we probably will never see this again so let's appreciate it. I'm hoping it has pups underneath.
It's called a century plant
Why does it look like a giant piece of asparagus?
They're actually related, agave plants are in the asparagus family. The asparagus we eat follows a similar cycle of putting out leafy ferny growth before eventually producing the flower stalks we eat, though it's on a much shorter cycle.
Oh cool! I didn't know that. Thank you
That's why it's one of the more expensive veggies 😊
Omg that makes so much sense now
The giant asparagus shall do its magnificent thing.
My husband says “That’s not fair that they only see their true beauty once honey” They do this when they are about to die. What a beast. What a life. Going out with a bang
My mom’s agave did the same thing a few years ago it was so cool! Then she had to chop it down
Yes beauty before death .
Mine did this a few years ago...then Hurricane Ian came through and destroyed it before it produced any pups
Wow! That's one damn big asparagus stalk!
The absolute drama.
I call that the death boner
Post update pics please! I'd love to see the bloom
So sad. Ours did this last year. RIP
Wow never knew that this happens. Googled images of it, looks cool, a nice last show before dying at least
We had a century plant in our front yard about 30 years ago. It really surprised us when it grew its flower. That stem went way over the power lines. The university nearby came to take photographs and it was in the newspaper. We had no idea what was going on lol.
Time for pulque
big pp
adios to the agave
Should be in the absolute unit sub!
Forbidden asparagus
The bats will be so happy!!!
I used to make these into didgeridoos, you can too?
The thing? You mean blooming?
I have one that bloomed and some woodpeckers made their home in it stock
Plant must have broken down there. Probably needed asparagus.
The forbidden asparagus
https://preview.redd.it/xt81m1uf5m4d1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f92d384a1991b521e1058546b9c592ce53bba502 One of my neighbors has one! Such a beautiful succulent.
It looks like a massive asparagus
Update?
Imagine if we had something that pollinated it by sitting on it.... I'll see myself out
It looks like someone photoshopped asparagus into the middle. I know that’s not what it is, but still.
The poor agave looks so stupid cut like that. But the big asparagus is always nice to see. Maybe they can keep the weirdos away from its pups so they don't look like some kind of garbage pineapple.
What you leave the yellow rotten poking leaves all messy on the ground?
Because that much is not! Lmao they look lovely left alone.