Agaves at the Chicago Botanic Gardens

Back in April, I posted some pictures of the large Agave americana in the CBG's succulent greenhouse. It had produced a tall flower stalk that had required them to cut out a section of the greenhouse roof.

Previously posted pictures of the Agave americana from April, showing the flower stalk growing through the cut section of the roof, and the whole plant.

I visited the Gardens again on May 14, and took a some pictures of the stalk from outdoors, looking much the same as it did in April.

Two views of the flower stalk silhouetted against the greenhouse

But below is how it looked yesterday. Quite a change!

Two views of the stalk as it prepares to bloom, the first from inside the greenhouse, the second from outdoors

I will probably travel to the gardens several more times this summer, and will post updates if I can. (I hope the flower stalk survived the rather violent thunderstorms we had yesterday afternoon and evening. You can see how threatening the sky had become in the 15 minutes or so between the outdoor shot, and the one taken indoors.)

Of course, that isn't the only Agave to be seen at the gardens. Here are some others I saw yesterday during my visit:

An outdoor planting at the CBG's Circle Garden. Squares with Agave americana and Sedum rupestre 'Lemon Coral' alternate with squares of Ageratum houstonianum 'Hawaii Blue.'

Also from the Circle Garden, a trio of Agave lucida. I had one of these for a couple of years. It became very unwieldy, and I had trouble finding a place for it indoors, so I left it outdoors last winter, knowing that it would succumb to the cold. Of course, now I regret doing so.

In the greenhouse: Agave lopantha heteracantha

Agave victoria-reginae, also from the greenhouse

I do really like how the CBG incorporates succulents into various temporary installations in the display gardens, in addition to the more or less permanent greenhouse display.