December 23, 2014

Christmas agave.



Seen today, in Austin.

18 comments:

James Pawlak said...

Tequila!!!!!

bleh said...

I thought you might be in central Texas based on the live oak you posted earlier.

What's the story with the frequent visits to Austin? I love it there, don't get me wrong. Trying to scare your employers a little? There's a top flight law school in Austin, after all. Nothing wrong with a little leverage.

Original Mike said...

Christmas agave???

Bah! Humbug!

Ann Althouse said...

I have family in Austin.

Scott said...

I bet the agave is sitting there thinking, "How undignified."

tim maguire said...

Looks like a court jester's crown.

George M. Spencer said...

It is better to agave than to areceive.

JSD said...

Welcome to Texas. Be sure to get some Christmas tamales.

Grackle said...

Welcome to Texas! Please attend a Ted Cruz event while you are here!

rehajm said...

Oh agave tree, Oh agave tree
You are so stout and prick-el-ee

Heartless Aztec said...

They do make a good drink when properly harvested and distilled.

Tank said...

Will you be cruising 6th Street on Saturday night?

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

2014 was a year of inflorescence for many agaves in the the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Quite a sight to see a field of flowering agaves.

Were the plants in Austin area involved?

Bob Ellison said...

Merry Christmas to all!

mikee said...

HXG above: You failed to explain that a flowering blue agave of the sort pictured isn't just a flower, it is an alien-looking stalk 15 to 20 feet high, as thick as a tree trunk, with bunches of flowers growing off the trunk way up high at perfect right angles to the trunk.

A more extraterrestial flower is hard to imagine.

The ones in my neighborhood were quite amazing.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

@Mikee.

Yes, and you can almost stand there and watch them grow - it happens so fast.

What I did not realize till this year was that the - probably thousands - of seed points develop into actual miniature agave plants which then drop off onto the ground.

In addition to our blue agaves, we have some patches of agave angustifolia. These propagate fiercely by casting pups from the roots - as do the blue agaves. But one of the larger angustifolias sprung into inflorescence this year.

None of the agave marginatas seem well enough established yet to flower.

Sadly, like spawning salmon, the plant then dies.

Anonymous said...

You're in Austin? Stop by Abilene on your way home.

Rockport Conservative said...

Be sure to get a photo of one of the lighted ones at night. They are very pretty.