destiny

this is the agave plant that had been in the allan gardens conservatory for perhaps forever. the gardens is getting a lot of visitors these days because of this plant.

it is 75 years old and it is monocarpic, it flowers only once then dies. the gardens had to cut a hole in its roof to accommodate the century plant's flower stalk. it is now about 4 metres. this old friend should last no more than the end of august.

here's an article from Wikipedia.org on the agave plant. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave

thank you for your kind views and comments; know that they are truly appreciated.

[Maggiemae]

This is in England? I do remember hearing about it on a TV program! Great and sad to see, really!

[summerfield]

@maggiemae - no, maggiemae, this is in toronto, ontario in canada. oops i forgot to put the link to Wikipedia. thank you.

[bkb in the city]

That is very cool. Great collage

[Sally Ings]

Wow, that's quite a flower stalk! In the thumbnail the flower looks like a tree. It must be quite a sight to see.

[Claire]

Wow that is huge

[June]

It seems a shame that it will die after taking all these years to flower, but how amazing to see the flower! it looks enormous. Very interesting shot.

[Denise]

Wow...that's huge!

[Jann]

Nice documenting collage. Shame to lose such a fascinating plant.

[Laurie F]

nice collage

[Jocasta]

Hi - I'm your get-pushed partner for this week. I'm completely in awe of the fact that you've posted 1529 photos - so much so that I'm a bit unsure of the challenge. Is there anything you'd like to be pushed to try that you haven't already done in 1529 photos?

[Jocasta]

forgot to say how much I like this photo - and the story which goes with it

[Laraine Kensicki]

WON-DER-FUL collage

[Ann H. LeFevre]

The entire plant dies? Or just the stalk/tree part? I know I should look at the Wikipedia article but my computer connection died for a while (weather, not the computer) and now I'm trying to jam what I wanted to do in 3 hours in to 1! Great collage though!

[summerfield]

@jocasta -well, if there's going to be a thunderstorm this week, i'll try to catch a lightning shot for you, provided i survive it. :-) thank you.

[Camille Bisson]

wonderful collage; plants are so amazing. i imagine the conservatory has taken cuttings so although this plant will die once bloomed, new ones are already started.