The Tale of the Narrow Leaf Agave

It was a dark and stormy night......ahem....let me start it again.  It was a bright and sunny March morning when I took the above photo at the Desert Botanical Garden.  This narrow leaf agave plant has been growing in the middle of the a wildflower bed for many years and it probably appears in several photos I've taken over the years as the wildflowers start their spring blooming.

On April 5th I went to the garden and saw this huge stalk that had grown up in the middle of the agave plant.  I had never seen this plant bloom before so I was excited to see such a thick and heavy stalk.  It was certainly not the kind of bloom I would have expected.  I would have guessed a much thinner bloom stalk for this type of agave.

When I went to the garden this last Sunday morning, I notice that the stalk had started to bloom with the tiny yellow rosettes that open up all over the stalk turning it into what looks like a tall carpeted pole in the center of the plant.

Upon closer inspection I saw that the bees were absolutely feasting on the bloom.  It's quite a sight to see one of these plants throw up such a large spike, then watch it unfurl a layer of thick blooms.  It was even more exciting to see the thousands of bees drawn to what must be some very delicious nectar.