Shalene Hiller couldn’t pick a better partner to celebrate her 25th anniversary as a City of Westminster horticulturist than a 10-foot-tall agave plant that will produce its one and only harvest of colorful flowers in just a few days.
Then, after spreading its beauty, it will wither and die, Hiller said.
“It’s grown with us for 25 years and now it’s going to bloom,” she said. “It’s so rare that this is happening. I am so excited.”
Agaves only bloom once every 20-to-25 years before they expire, say experts. But don’t despair, most agaves make “pups” or vegetative offshoots that replace the parent plant after it dies.
Hiller has been keeping a close watch on the succulent, which resides outside of Westminster City Hall at 4800 W. 92nd Avenue. Tiny blooms are starting to emerge, and she figures a full bloom may come later this week.
“All this time it has never bloomed,” Hiller said. “I thought maybe after five years, 10 years or 15. Nope, it has stayed right on schedule.”
Hiller first planted the agave plant at the city’s Walnut Creek Golf Course not long after she was hired. She adopted the plant for the city 25 years ago because she thought it was pretty.
Although native to drier and much warmer climates, the agave has shown some true Steel Magnolia tendencies, Hiller said.
“It’s survived snow, sleet, high winds and just about everything else, and stood tall,” she said.
It also survived a move to City Hall as irrigation work at the golf course prompted her to relocate the agave to the outside flower garden.
Hiller is also quick to point out that this species of agave plant does not produce tequila. Only the blue agave does that, she said.
“No, this is just a tall, really interesting plant,” Hiller said.