Bloomin’ beautiful
VICTORY PARK – The Flemmings finally get to see their century plant bloom after 30 years of patience.
In its lifetime, the blossom of a century plant will bloom only once and thereafter it will die.
In her life so far, Sonneke Flemming has nurtured many plants but none quite so special as her century plant. She explained she bought the plant while she was still living in the Free State with her husband and daughters before they relocated to Victory Park.
“I do not like planting flowers, they are beautiful to look at but I mainly have cacti because I am very susceptible to hay fever and these sort of plants can last for much longer.”
Walking around her garden Flemming proudly introduced all the different cacti she has had for many years. The Flemmings have had the plant for more than 30 years and are extremely happy that they have lived long enough to see it reach its full potential.
Flemming said that it took about a week for the flower’s stalk to shoot to its current size.
The century plant is said to be a species of flowering plant in the family agavaceae, native to Mexico, and the United States in New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. It could grow to be almost 10m tall.
When the plant blooms, it will have pods that will start to flower. The agave will live its whole life in anticipation of this moment, waiting for the opportune moment to show off all its glory.
After it dies small pups will start to grow and those will replace the mother plant.
