November 2022

  • Thanksgiving
    Thanksgiving

Of the nearly 100 agave americanas (century plants) growing in the decorative area just east of 2005 driveway, to date I have harvested 98. The first one I moved, I planted in my front yard. The remainder I planted on the caliche mound (53) and the rest I potted in plastic pots left over from previous plant purchases. I don’t know the origin of the original plant. I suppose Mom and Dad planted it in the area of the old juniper Dad and I brought back from McBride Canyon. It was an interesting piece in a driftwood sort of way and went well with the big chunks of flint we had previously liberated from the flint quarries before the National Park Service made the Alibates Flint Quarry National Monument. Along with a couple of fair-sized chunks of dolomite I don’t know the origin of, and some red yucca planted there, these items made a kind of picturesque grouping. The flint and dead juniper date back to my prepubescent years. That is, their presence on SA dates back that far. Even the juniper is much older than that. Over the years, the agave and yucca proliferated and between that and the weeds, the flint and juniper were all but obscured.

Since we moved back in 2003, I ignored the area, other than maybe keeping the weeds from completely taking over. Genna cleaned out some of the yucca and Abigail and I completed that job two or three years ago. I still didn’t know much about the agave but I did learn that, though they are commonly called century plants, they actually bloom when 25 or 30 years old, then they die. There had been at least two blooms, which results in a long asparagus-looking growth several inches in diameter at the base and which can grow to as much as 30 feet tall. Because it was located underneath a couple of junipers (?), those blooms didn’t get much more than fifteen feet tall. I was surprised when I learned that the plant dies after it blooms because it looked to me like it was still alive. In recent years, I looked more closely at the plant and saw that there were dead agaves that were obscured by younger ones. I didn’t do anything about it until one day I was between tasks and took the time to remove some of the dead leaves, a hazardous undertaking, I can tell you. Whether dead or alive, the leaves have vicious daggers on the end of them and along the edge of the leaves which dealt me no end of misery. I removed a surprising amount of dead and began to see all the individual plants, called pups, ranging from new pups that could fit easily in my palm were it not for the daggers, to a couple that look like they could bloom in just the next few years.

Still not knowing much about agaves, such as what kind of root system they have, I decided to dig one of the small pups up and plant it in my front yard. Turns out agaves have a minimal root system, just a few a thin roots five or six inches long, which makes it very easy to uproot them. From the all-seeing eye of YouTube, I learned that agaves will grow in just about any dirt. Apparently, they can be simply stuck in the ground or potted, and they will survive. Since the pup I planted in my front yard has more years ahead of it than I do, I may move it to a pot or the caliche mounds and plant a larger specimen or two in the front yard. The fifty-three I planted on the caliche mounds may or may not stay there, if they even survive. Remaining from the original bunch are two large ones which I will probably let stay where they are. They are right next to each other and I’m afraid I might damage them if I tried to move them. There are also two nice specimens there and I plan to put one in my front yard and one in the butterfly garden at Wildcat Bluff Nature Center. The garden is surrounded by concrete walkways and on one side the walkway bends around so that it creates a small area that is hard to water and thus is bare. Some people going out to hike simply can’t bring themselves to walk the few steps more to go around that. They have to walk through it so something prickly might be just the thing to encourage them to stay on the walkway. I transplanted the nicest of the two in my front yard and the other one in the butterfly garden at Wildcat Bluff, which is also the new home for three lessor agaves I planted in a cactus area by the parking lot. In the process of moving those, I uncovered a couple of small pups which I put in pots.

That just leaves the two big ones in the decorative area. Kathyrn read that an agave won’t die if its bloom stem is cut off. I think I’ll let the first one of the two to bloom go ahead with the process and die. The other one I’ll cut the bloom stem off and see if that preserves it. That area needs a large agave for show. As time goes by, I’ll transplant one or two pups when they appear in that area but not right on top of the other two so as time goes by there will be future generations of agave.

If you know someone who needs an agave, I can provide them at low cost.

There is a facility adjacent to Palo Duro Canyon called Doves Rest Cabins where we, Kari, Rebecca, Abigail and I, spent a restful weekend, though we are not doves. Above you will see among the pictures the view from the cabin called Comanche where we stayed. We did not see any Comanches. The weather was bad when checked in late afternoon and we promptly made a fire in the fireplace to make us all comfy. It looked like we would be stuck inside all weekend, but the wind died down and the sun came out Saturday afternoon. Chris joined us and we went for a hike in the canyon. Our accommodations were first class, and we would recommend them to anyone needing a weekend retreat.

October has come and gone, and it was among the more pleasant ones I can remember. Rebecca was my sole trick ‘o treater (see picture above) on Halloween, so she got the bulk of the little bit of candy I had on hand, just in case.

Thanksgiving has also come and gone. Nicole joined our usual crew and Kari and Jill prepared a wonderful dinner. We are still working through the leftovers.