Still blooming, from the bottom up. The heavy thunderstorm (and tornado that hit a little north of me!) wind didn't help the looks of the lower flowers, but the bees are loving it. I'm surprised that more bees didn't show up in this picture. I can easily see 20 or 30 out there at one time.

When they land on the flowers, the bees tend to walk into the middle of the cluster. Look at all the pollen she has in her pollen sacs! (red arrow)

I don't think I've ever had Agave honey before. Wonder if I should track down their hive? For a change, the nest is not in the eaves of my house!

Oh WOW!!!

Thank You For Sharing!!!!!!

Do hummingbirds bite?

Those flowers are amazing. Glad it wasn't affected by the tornado. Do you know if once it's done flowering it will flower again? Seems like something that large would take a lot out of the plant.

Sadly, Agave are monocarpic which means they only flower once before dying.

Crenda, how many pups / suckers does this plant have? The flowers are beautiful and mesmerizing by the way.

There are probably 20-30 pups around the plant right now. There may be more hiding under the leaves. I will be interested in seeing how many bulbils form on the stock!

Rhamel, since you mentioned it, I haven't seen any hummers this year, including last summer. Maybe I just missed them because I usually have a lot of them around when the Aloes are blooming. And they have been heavy bloomers this year.

I am always surprised at how many bees visit. Get this - I am allergic to palm tree pollen and it is here all year long. So I tried cutting off the big inflos on trees in my yard. (fools errand, I know, since no one else in the county cuts theirs) Those lovely big fluffy inflos can hold hundreds of bees! So now I just deal with the sniffles and itchy eyes and enjoy the show.

Crenda, if you can locate a local source for honey you can get palm honey and eating that everyday supposedly helps with allergies. I picked up some palm and Brazilian pepper honey from a local guy here and so far this year I haven't had much in the way of allergies. Though Feb to April is usually my worst time, we'll see.

Sorry for the off topic, just figured it's worth looking into to keep you from suffering through allergies.

Things are progressing! Still flowering and still have a ton of bees visiting. We had a lot of wind that blew off the spent flowers. I don't know if that will impact bulbils or not.

Here's a look from today -

I guess they bloom from the bottom up. At least mine have.

I don't know if this is a problem, or part of the normal process. I'm getting black stuff on the plant. My first thought was aphids, but it don't see any - maybe because they are up too high. I do see some ants trotting up and down the stalk, but they are also on my palms and even my plastic flamingos! So not sure how indicative that is. They are always out looking for moisture at this time of year.

Here's the main plant -

Closer view -

The black stuff does not wipe off easily, but can be scratched off. Could this be some sort of drippings from the flowers? I don't think it is bee poop. That is usually brown. (I am sad that I know this!) But maybe after long exposure to the sun it turns black. The pups don't seem to have any of it.

The entire plant - still blooming at the top.

On the up side, I do have some bulbils poking through! And you can see the black stuff around them as well.

Aside from the plant having black stuff on it, it seems to be doing well. I really hate to try to treat the plant for anything as long as I still have a ton of bees visiting. I'm afraid to even use soapy water.

It's probably soot from the nectar....

Crenda, when it gets warmer in the fridgid north, I would love to trade or buy a couple babies/bulbils

Rhamel, I will surely have babies to share! I'll let you know when I have something ready - and I already have pups around this and a couple of other plants. If I forget, jog my memory!

Wow, okay, that's just plain old scary! That is one huge spike!

Great update. Don't be sad you can recognize bee poop. Think of yourself as investigative. As for the black stuff, honeydew from aphids can cause sooty mold, it might be that.

tj

It is probably just the plant decaying in its final stages of life. Soon the entire flower spike will fall over and you will be left with only the pups and remaining bulbils on the flower stalk. I had a smooth agave (non variegated) similar to yours flower a couple years ago. My flower spike didn't get as tall as yours, maybe 8'-9' at most but boy did it have a ton of babies on the flower. Very cool thread you've posted here.

Evan

More babies popping up every day! And all seem to be doing fine, but way too small for the community plant exchange this Saturday. Maybe next year? LOL

A little windy, and blurry, but you can see a lot of bulbils on this stem.

This has been so much fun watching the progress of this plant. Thank you for the updates. I've learned a lot. This is not something we experience in the midwest.

I should have also pointed out that it is still blooming. Flowers started opening at the bottom of the stalk and are still moving up. The bees are very happy and I have finally seen a few hummers!

What a great plant, Crenda. Looks like the blooms will last for quite a while yet.

Nice! Taller than the palm tree!

How cute! Some of the bulbils are now starting to look like little Agave plants!

My goodness! You are going to have bunches!

Please keep an eye out to see if any seed develops. Just curious.... Mine put out a very small amount of seed, but I suspect it was fertilized from A.pelona blooms about 3m distant.

You can pluck those little suckers and plant them right in the ground. They grow like crazy!

Evan

Best to wait until larger, but that is true -- special bulbil mojo...

Those little guys are about an inch long, so they will need to wait for a while before they are ready to remove. At least I think they should wait until they are larger.

I've had a few larger flowers fall that have seeds in them. But they are immature. I am watching for mature seed, though!

I went to the plant exchange last Saturday. It was kind of a bust. I think folks were like me - nothing was ready in March this year after our weird winter. There is another one in a couple of months. Hopefully I can share some bulbils at that one. It is supposed to be native plants - so I'll have to convince people that they ARE native. LOL

Watching the progression of this has been fascinating, truly thankful you thought to post all these wonderful photos for us. Really really really wish I lived in a zone that could support these, I would be itching for some bulbils if I did! Happy growing!

Do all agave make bulbils on the flower stalk? Or just certain species ?

Most do not, and some that do, do so only subsequent to sustaining stalk damage, suggesting that bulbils were not necessarily in Gaia's original plan...

The bulbils seem to be coming along just fine. My biggest problem is the mocking birds. They love to play and they pick at my flowers and now even these bulbils. I gave them a talking to, but you know how birds are. They just won't listen! LOL I threw a few bulbils they knocked off into a pot. We'll see if they are too small to pot up. Only about an inch, so I suspect they are.

Here's a couple of bulbils showing different variegation.

I don't know if the variegation will stay like this, but it's pretty cool looking right now. These guys are around 2 inches long.

The proverbial late bloomer?

It looks like I have a couple of highly variegated, yellow bulbils. I see just a touch of green in them at this point, which means they might not grow on their own. These are about 2-3 inches long, so maybe some more green will show up as it grows.

Might be a second albino to the far right just forming.

How large should the bulbils be before removing them? I figured as large as they can get before being knocked off or blown off by the wind. I accidentally knocked this one off - so I can't blame the mockingbirds this time!

The one in the bottom picture looks about the right size for planting, seeing that you accidentally knocked it off. I am assuming that if it wasn't ready, it wouldn't come off easily. It looks like you will just have to plant that one, I feel like it wouldn't be any use to glue it back onto the flowering stem.

Yeah, there's no putting it back! This one did come off easily. I barely touched it. But I hope the othesr stay on longer and get a little bigger. I take a look around the plant every morning to see if any have fallen off.

I made the mistake of removing plantlets from the stem of a Kalanchoe luciae too soon, so I don't want to do that this time. I am trying to learn some patience, which has never ever been my virtue! LOL

You should cut down the entire stalk and donate to a local shopping mall. Bulbils tend to root and grow with inordinate speed for awhile, until they lose their bulbil mojo. All or nearly all odd variants will either trend toward golden (and die) or normal, and do so rather quickly. The initial visions of glory are fun, but generally short-lived.

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing! I hope you have plenty of friends to give these too.. or you'll be swimming in Agaves lol

Not a whole lot has changed in what is going on with the plant, but things are still progressing. The mother plant is fading away. I removed a couple of large pups for a neighbor on this side. I kind of expect it to start leaning soon and then we'll have to take it down.

And at the top there is a bright yellow bulbil showing. And it looks like there is a seed pod by a bunch of dead flowers. I guess there might be more seed pods in there, but it is 12+ feet up there so I can't see for sure.

One thing that I find odd - some of bulbils bloom. I removed some bulbils to pot up - all of them rooted by the way - but some bloomed. It even happens on the stem.

I assume these blooming bulbils (sounds like I am cursing!) are not viable. I've been letting them grow more before removing so perhaps I can tell which ones will flower and which one will not. Maybe I just need to look at the centers of the bulbils more closely and I can tell then.

But Life definitely goes on!

I've been seeing a lot of ants lately, so I've been on the lookout for aphids. By the looks of this one bunch of bulbils - and oddly, only on this one cluster so far - it looks like they have arrived. 'Tis the season!

So I'll blast them with water and keep an eye out for their friends!

The plant is starting to lean more now, so it won't be long until we need to take it down. One squall will do it in. It doesn't show as well in this picture, but it is leaning back and to the left.

Anyone who wants a handful of bulbils to play with, just send me a message. I promise to send aphid-free bulbils and to keep the shipping price low.

Cheers!

The aphids seem to be after my hibiscus with a vengeance as well. The new buds are covered in them but they seem to disappear when the flowers are gone.

Well, folks, I'm afraid the party is over. The stalk was leaning further and with rain coming soon, we were afraid it would crash on other plants. So this weekend we took her down.

We did measure the length/height of the plant. It was easier this time! She was just over 13 feet tall.

Here's the sad looking stump. There were tons of babies starting to poke out under there!

I removed the 4 large pups and finally removed the stump. Now there is a clean slate to start over.

While we were sawing the stem it was raining babies! The larger bulbils were falling off easily with the vibration of the saw. So I collected those and the flower stems with bulbils from the stalk. I have quite a few babies to sort!

I was surprised to not find any seed pods. No matter - I think I have enough babies as it is!

It's been a lot of fun watching the changes. Hope y'all enjoyed the show!

And a fabulous show it has been, thank you for the photo progression. I won't lie, I am going to miss the photos just a bit.

Good luck rehoming all those beautiful babies! For the umpteenth time on this thread I am wishing so much I lived in a more hospitable zone. Alas, will have to settle for the Agave parryi seeds I am getting ready to sow. Gonna learn me some patience on that project. ;)

Crenda, it was so awesome looking at this thread. Thank you for taking the time to post the progression.

I think the next time I send some plants to my mom one will have to be an agave. She lives in your area and she probably wouldn't have to fuss over it too much.

Well... Have fun with all the babies! Maybe if you plant them all at the same time they will bloom simultaneously!

I've enjoyed reading this thread so very much! I live north, so getting to virtually watch this progression was really quite something

Crenda, that was a long show - about 8 months long?

What are you going to do with all the babies, lol?

How many pups are you going to plant to replace it? Btw, not sure if you mentioned it somewhere in previous posts - how old was that blooming plant?

What a great thread to follow! Fantastic watching the progression.

Please Do One Following The New Pups That You Plant.......

Thanks

Rina, I had that plant for about 5 years. So I was surprised it bloomed already! I have planted one of the pups in mama's place. Doesn't it look small and lonely? It's really almost a foot tall, but it has been a little squished under the other plant.

I am going to replace a dying pup over at my neighbor's house. They are in Wisconsin, so they don't even know it is dying.

As for all of the other bulbils . . . well, I'll be potting up a bunch to see how it goes. I'll try some of the highly variegated bulbils, too. I have been talking with the city parks, hoping they have a few spots that need an Agave - or 10! Nothing near the kids' play areas, of course, but some of the roads leading into the parks are bare. Just hope they agree with my vision. LOL

Here's a funny side story -- when we were taking out the stump, Charlie stepped on one of those 3 green Echeveria agavoides to the right of the pup. I yelled, so he moved his foot and stepped on another one! Surprisingly, they look fine today. I think it is because we are in the dry season and they were a little rubbery instead of firm with plenty of water. Anyhoo - Charlie dodged a bullet there. LOL

Crends, that is a great idea - for the parks areas. I hope it will work out.

Good luck with growing the variegated bulbils, I hope you get a variegated plant or few :)

I thought it takes for them to be 'older' than 5 years to bloom. I am sure the new pup will grow into as great plant as momma was.

Rina, I am resisting the urge to plant around the pup. The first time I planted some Sedum rubrotinctum around the plant. It looked great with red jelly beans surrounding it. And then it grew on top of them and they disappeared. Surprisingly, I found 3 little plants struggling to survive under there. So I transplanted them and hope they take off like the first ones did.