Julia and the beanstalk!
Gardener’s desert plant does nothing for years then shoots up 30ft in weeks
FOR years the lowly plant lurked unnoticed in the corner of Julia Hardy’s front garden. Then without warning, it started to grow. And grow. And grow.
The first signs of life came a few years ago when it sprouted a seven-foot stalk before going back to sleep.
Now the rare specimen has flowered into life and shot up 30ft in a matter of weeks, almost reaching the gutter at the top of Mrs Hardy’s three-storey house.
The extraordinary Agave americana is native to the deserts of Mexico, Texas and Arizona – a far cry from this street in the seaside town of Sidmouth, Devon.
It is also known as the ‘century plant’ because it can remain dormant for decades before rapidly flowering into life and then dying soon after.
Blooms in the UK are very rare – there have only been a handful in the last 20 years. An agave that erupted in 2015 was the first since 2001.
Grandmother Mrs Hardy, 62, a keen gardener, said the plant was in her garden when she moved in 12 years ago.
The previous owners planted it around 18 years ago. She has never even watered it, although she did cover it with a blanket during one particularly harsh winter.
This spectacular eruption started in early June, when a thick, flowering stem suddenly burst from the stalk.
Since then it has grown at a rate of three feet a week, or almost six inches a day. Tourists stop to take pictures and the plant even has its own Instagram account.
Mrs Hardy, who runs an art gallery and holiday lets, said: ‘When people say to me, “Where do you live?”, I’m able to say, “It’s the house with the plant” and people know.
‘The flower spikes started at the end of June and they have been growing up to six inches a day.
‘People have always stopped to photograph it, and it has always been lovely to see the level of interest, especially from young people who often take photos. Of course once it flowers that will be it – it will die. I love it so I am going to miss it.’
Thankfully, a 3ft-tall off-shoot has sprouted up nearby – meaning that in a few decades the garden could produce another gargantuan flowering plant. t.payne@dailymail.co.uk
‘I love it, so I am going to miss it’