The 26-year-old agave plant on Wichita State’s campus that we reported on previouslyis now in mid-bloom.
Campus floral supervisor Kari Ossman has kept a close eye on the plant and considers the plant’s blooming a real education.
“The next phase will be to watch it bloom, to measure it, and to kind of watch it after it blooms to see if the plant really does die,” she said.
Century plants typically die after blooming, and Ossman looks forward to seeing the process.
The university’s carpenters' shop measured the plant Tuesday. Using a Genie Lift, they dropped a tape measure from a level. The agave’s official height from its base is 19 feet and 7.5 inches, but the plant may grow a bit more.
Ossman also looks forward to watching for hummingbirds in coming weeks because they are notoriously attracted to agave plants.
“[What] I’ve been told is that the hummingbirds are going to want to eat there,” she said.
You can observe the blooming of the century plant at WSU’s Fairmount Street entrance south of the Ulrich Museum of Art.
