Before it's gone: At 20 feet tall, century plant begins to wither in WRAL Azalea Gardens
If you haven't seen the uniquely beautiful century plant in WRAL's Azalea Gardens – or if you wanted to see it again before it's gone – you may want to come see it soon. After weeks of drawing crowds in the hot summer sun, our Agave Americana is now showing signs of decay.
A century plant only blooms once in their entire lifetime. Then, after a spectacular showing of sudden and rapid growth, they die.
In their natural, desert habitat in the wild, a century plant can live upwards of 100 years. However, in the North Carolina moisture and humidity, an Agave Americana blooms every 15 to 20 years before returning to the soil.
Hundreds of visitors have come to see the century plant in our garden. We've seen families snapping photos of loved ones, children and even dogs to compare their height to the ever-growing stalk.
From root to tip, the plant is roughly 20 feet tall – but we are waiting on our landscape experts for a final, definitive measurement, which we'll add here.
Our century plant has changed so much since that first photo we posted on Facebook on May 6, when a little 2-foot-tall spike was just beginning to form. It's now been two months, and it's exactly 20 feet and 8 inches tall with yellow, puffball flowers... but it'll soon be gone.
In the meantime, we've livestreamed its growth each day on our website, and even taken drone footage to get a unique perspective from above.
We've also put together a photo gallery of its growth from two months ago until today.
In the past few weeks, the agave has grown into something from a Dr. Seuss book: A 2o-foot-tall asparagus with hat-rack limbs and great, poofy yellow flowers. Tony Avent at Plant Delight's Nursery, who gave us the agave, told us the plant would become "an explosion of nature," pulling bees, hummingbirds, butterflies and all kinds of pollenators from 'all over the neighborhood.'
See the century plant before its gone
As nature progresses, the plant is no longer becoming larger and stronger. Now, brown death has begun creeping up the stalk. Those poofy yellow flowers are beginning to whither and turn brown.
We can't know exactly how much longer the plant will stand upright, but the growth has ended, and new changes will likely be the plant deteriorating over the next week or two. Soon, the flowers will be gone, the bees will fly away and the stalk will turn brown and fall over.
We'll keep livestreaming the century plant as the changes occur, and as we watch nature at work. But if you wanted to come see the plant while it's still tall and strong, that time is quickly coming to a close.
If you want to share photos of your visit with the century plant, send them to us via email or upload from the WRAL News app.
