Agave Blooms 2012 Sedona

My wife transplanted a handful of baby Agave from the neighboring vacant lot 10 or 15 years ago. We have been watching them grow and produce offsets since that time. Two years ago we had our first bloom and it was so much fun to watch it progress through the spring and summer. There is a bitter sweet part of this story because as the bloom grows and matures into its 10 to 20 ft bloom it takes every bit of energy that has been stored in the plant and the plant dies.

The native Pueblo and Apache used the Agave as a source of food. Prehistoric roasting pits have been found at Sinagua and Apache sites throughout the Sedona area. There are Agave roasting pits at the Palatki and Loy Canyon petroglyph sites. Baked in underground pits, the hearts were eaten by Native peoples for their sugary sweetness and were also pounded into cakes that were dried for storage. The fibrous leaves were used to make cloth, rope, needles and thread.

This year we are being treated to three blooms. This gallery will take the journey from start to finish. I hope you enjoy watching as much as we do.