- May 4, 2024
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When Gloria DiGirolamo planted her Century Plant over 10 years ago, she didn’t expect its height to surpass her flagpole.
The plant, which is now about 25 feet high, sticks out from the small garden in her front yard. At the top of the plant, branches are sprouting flowers.
“It was a very unusual sight to see,” she said. “It kept getting taller and taller.”
She said her husband purchased the plant from a bazaar about a decade ago. Around the beginning of May, the stalk experienced a growth spurt.
She considered reporting the huge plant to “Ripley’s Believe it or Not!” because she was in such disbelief.
But century plants’ high stalks are typical of their species, believe it or not.
Bonnie Cross, who planted two century plants side-by-side in her backyard 13 years ago, experienced the same phenomenon.
Around March, her twin plants’ stalks began to shoot up, ending at a towering height of 30 feet. She said she had seen plants like that in California but “certainly not of that size or thickness.”
After the plants began to lean, she had them removed to prevent any damage they could do if they fell.
Century plants, which resemble aloe plants and are generally about 6-8 feet high, sprout very tall stalks after about 10 years. In most cases, the large stalk will have flowers blossoming at the top. This bloom only happens once in the plant’s lifetime and usually occurs in the spring or summer months.
The life span of the plant is about 10-30 years.
Century Plants grow well in desert-like conditions or in tropical areas. They are native to Mexico, but can be found in the western and southeastern parts of the United States.
