Updates: Bigger and Better Things

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, I love summer. Or maybe I've just complained repeatedly that I hate winter; I forget. Anyway, the long hours of daylight? The heat? The fresh fruit in season? Bring them on! Even the humidity doesn't bother me all that much. (I'd be willing to skip the mosquitoes and the violent thunderstorms/hailstorms/potential tornadoes though.) Of course, the best thing about being a plant lover in the summer is all the growing that is going on.

For example, the new leaf on my Sansevieria hallii, which was just barely emerging from the soil in this post, now looks like this:

Sansevieria hallii. The new leaf is second from the right. I also redid the top dressing for a neater look.

Another view, showing how nice and thick the leaf is. It is the shortest leaf now, but I expect it to continue to grow taller.

As for my Ledebouria socialis, which I posted about on July 8, I decided to get a nice big bowl to plant it in.

Ledebouria socialis in its new pot, with the old pot for comparison. I didn't have to break it, after all.

Finally, I did get back to the Chicago Botanic Gardens after all, just yesterday. And the flowers on the bottom part of the giant Agave stalk were open.

Agave americana bloom stalk from a distance

Closer: The flowers at the bottom of the stalk have opened; the buds at the top are still closed, and the ones in the middle are in intermediate stages.

Closer still: Pretty yellow fringe

Previous posts about this plant can be found by clicking the "Agave" label below.

As the summer progresses, I'm sure I'll have even bigger things to blog about. As it is, I have had to move at least 20 succulents to larger pots, and I'm sure there is more of that in my near future.

Not Yet....CBG Agave Update

So after two weeks, I finally made it back to the Chicago Botanic Gardens last Thursday. And the Agave americana flower stalk is still sticking up through the roof (no storm damage) and still not in full bloom.

Flower stalk as of July 1, from the inside of the greenhouse, and from the outdoors

As it turns out, the CBG has a time lapse video of the Agave in action:

I'm not sure when I will be making a my next trip to the Gardens, so there is a possibility that I might miss the fully open flowers. So, I thought I'd share some pictures of another blooming Agave species in the greenhouse, with open flowers on the lower part of its stalk.

Agave macrocantha

Agave macrocantha plant and flower stalk, well contained inside the greenhouse. The CBG has quite a few Agaves; if they had to cut open the roof every time one bloomed, they'd be in big trouble.

Close-up of open flowers below and buds above. (The Agave flowers are yellow; the orange blooms are from a neighboring Jatropha.)

If I do get back to the Gardens in time, I will certainly share updated images.

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.