Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
Sunday - September 21, 2014
From: Willis, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Transplants, Cacti and Succulents
Title: Need help with century plant in Willis, TX
Answered by: Jimmy Mills
QUESTION:
Ok so I have two gorgeously monstrous century plants in my yard..I love em BUT I don't know if the have ever bloomed but since I am removing pups as fast as I can during the rainy season I'm assuming it has already.. My question is how to treat the parent plant and pups since parent seems to still be doing pretty well a little die off on the center but that's it and how much so I cut away of a pups root can I split the root to make several separate plants.. I'm a total novice with the gardening this being my first year with a yard and much of what I've learned is from how to gardening books and the internet :) (I realize I've asked about 20 questions sorry:/) Thanks ever so much for any tips hints or advice!ANSWER:
Ok so there are 9 different Agave species native to the US that have “century plant” as part of their common name; seven of those occur in Texas. The name of the species that you have is not terribly important, because they mostly behave similarly. Three of the more spectacular Texas examples in my view are:
Agave americana (American century plant)
Agave havardiana (Havard's century plant)
Agave parryi ssp. parryi (Century plant)
As to flowering, if your plants had flowered, you would know about it. The plant sends up massive flowering stalk as much as 15 feet tall from the center of the plant. Once flowering is done, the whole plant slowly dies.
The pups are a means of vegetative reproduction, and can be separated from the “parent plant”. This needs to be done carefully while avoiding the sharp-spine tipped leaves. This link to Birds and Blooms tells you how to do this.
Good luck, and be careful.
More Transplants Questions
What plants can be moved from Romulus MI to Cleveland TX?
May 07, 2010 - I presently live and garden in Michigan, but will be re-locating in the next year to Cleveland Texas. What plants, if anything, can or should I bring to Texas?
view the full question and answer
How to plant a gooseberry bush
November 22, 2008 - Please, if somebody can help, I need to know how to plant the gooseberry bush.
Thanks,
view the full question and answer
Trimming back Agave havardiana
June 05, 2008 - Hi.. thanks for all the great information on Agaves. We have a number of Agave Havardiana (blue) that love where we planted them. Several have gotten HUGE. So much so that they are starting to ge...
view the full question and answer
Failure to bud out of Shumard oaks in Floresville TX
April 16, 2010 - Question: I have a Shumard red oak (9-10ft tall) that I planted last October as its leaves were turning a brilliant red color. However, it's the only tree that did not bud this spring. I scraped t...
view the full question and answer
Transplanting native flame leaf sumac in Eden, TX
October 26, 2008 - We have tried without success to transplant a flame leaf sumac from the ranch to the house. What are we doing wrong?
view the full question and answer
| Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |