Different ornamental plants may be grown in gardens, homes, and along the river for their color, aroma, unique structure, and pattern.These plants provide a fresh look to your home, bringing the outside in and refreshing your eyes. Aside from decorating the surroundings, plants can also provide us with fresh and purified air and help us breathe healthily.While some grow plants to repel pests or own a quick remedy for any basic illnesses, others grow specific plants with the traditional belief that they offer their family good luck. You can also raise these decorative plants in your backyard to attract native birds or critters, which helps you live in the lap of nature. Bringing nature indoors can help with stress and provide you with renewed energy in this hectic world.Today, let’s explore more about this lovely ornamental and hedge plant.Interesting Facts About Century PlantsA century plant is an ornamental plant that’s planted for its succulent and xerophytic varieties, which often create beautiful enormous rosettes with robust leaves. Let’s learn more:These flowering plants from the Asparagaceae family are indigenous to Mexico and Texas in the United States. However, it has widely spread to many other parts of the world and has evolved as an invasive plant.It’s natural to think that century plants are closely related to aloes or stonecrops, or cactus, but this can be a mistake and they are actually a completely different species.There are about 200 varieties of agave, each with its own unique size and color.Although these plants are popularly known as the century plant, they don’t survive for a century; instead, they live only for 10-30 years.The century plant got this name because it was initially assumed to bloom just once every 100 years.Most century plants are semel parous species as they die after blooming.Century plants bloom massive flower clusters which usually take between 8-30 years. After they bloom the plants die, except the spineless century plant (Agave attenuata). This is the only century plant species that bloom multiple times every year.The blossoming period lasts between three to four months in adult plants in most agave species; after this, the blossoming flower begins to shatter and face downwards.A century plant was previously classified into two subgenera, namely Agave and Littaea, depending on the formation of the flower. These two subgenera are not monophyletic.Manfreda is a new subspecies of century plant that was recognized in 2019.Agave americana, Agave tequilana, Agave murpheyi, Agave attenuata, Agave parviflora, Agave Angustifolia, Agave vilmoriniana, Agave Palmeri, Agave parryi, and Agave victoriae-reginae are some widely known planted species.Agave americana, a native of tropical America, is one of the most well-known species. It has large variegated leaves with white or yellow margins or a central stripe.Agave Americana, also known as the American century plant, generally grow wider than other species and can grow anywhere between 6–10 ft (1.8–3.0 m) in diameter.Mature plants have greyish-green leaves and usually are around 3–5 ft (0.9–1.5 m) long with a prickling border and a sharp spike at the tip. American agave adult plants bring up a long stalk to a height of 25–30 ft (8–9 m) filled with massive yellow flower clusters.Agave Americana is mostly found in the semi-desert region of Karoo, in South Africa. Agave Americana was initially planted there to aid as a crisis meal for animals by British immigrants around 1820. Eventually, it became an important source for making syrup and sugar.Agave tequilana, also known as blue agave or tequila agave, is a major commercial product of Jalisco, Mexico. It’s used to make tequila from agave nectar, a popular distilled beverage of Mexico.The agave tequilana plant prefers to rise in higher elevations of more than 5000 ft (1500 m) and thrives in rich and sandy soils.Blue agave plants develop into huge succulents with spiky fleshy leaves that may reach heights of over 7 ft (2 m). When blue agaves are around five years old, they produce a stalk that can grow an extra 16 ft (5 m) and is crowned with a yellow flower cluster.Agave attenuata are also called Foxtail or Swan’s Neck Agave or Lion’s tail for its growth of a curved flower head.Agave attenuata lacks prickly teeth and terminal spines, evolving as a favored garden decorative.Agave decipiens, known as False Sisal or Florida agave, is a plant species endemic to coastal Florida, but they quickly became popular invasive plants of Pakistan, Spain, South Africa, and India. This century plant has huge variegated leaves that are generally 3.28 -6.56 ft (1-2 m) long. Instead of producing capsules, this species produces many plantlets or bulbils on the stalks of its flower clusters.Agave filifera, often known as thread agave, is a small or medium-sized succulent plant native to Central Mexico with dark green to bronzish-green leaves that create a stemless rosette up to 3 ft (90 cm) broad and 2 ft (60 cm) tall.Agave shawii or shaw’s agave is a small-to-medium-sized plant with 7.8-19 in (20–50 cm) long and 3.14-7.8 (8–20 cm) broad green oval leaves forming a small to medium-sized rosette with sharp marginal teeth over it. These smaller plants are indigenous to the southwest and Baja California but have now become highly endangered and extremely uncommon.Agave filifera, often known as thread agave, is a small or medium-sized succulent plant native to Central Mexico with dark green to bronzish-green leaves that create a stemless rosette up to 3 ft (90 cm) broad and 2 ft (60 cm) tall. The Various Uses Of Century PlantsIn ancient Mexico, the century plant was considered as one of the godly plants, with a special place in religious rites, fable, and the economy. So why is this plant became so well-known? One reason may be because it can be used in a variety of ways. Let’s explore more.It’s good to have a century plant in your backyard since it has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties and can be used to treat minor cuts, injuries, and other skin concerns.A century plant is traditionally used to heal TB, ulcers, jaundice, and other liver-related problems. It’s also used to treat high fevers, gastric issues, poor digestion, and even toothaches.The century plant is a source in the preparation of steroidal medicines.We get sweet sap from the flower stalk called aguamiel, also known as honey-water, from the Mexican maguey plant. This Aguamiel has been used as traditional medicine by Mexican people for ages.The Aguamiel is further fermented to prepare alcoholic beverage called pulque.Pulque has been consumed for at least 2000 years, with many tales and beliefs about its origins. Particularly, when you look back to the Mesoamerican period, drinking pulque was regarded sacred, and its consumption was restricted to specific people. Later, the market grew, reaching its rise by the 19th century.Century plants, especially Agave deserti or desert agave plant leaves, produce fibers called pita or ixtle. This pita is be used to make ropes, mats, or rough fabric for sacks. Thread from pita is also used to make a traditional art craft by hand, and this technique is known as piteado. The piteado work is embroidery on the leather with different decorative designs stitched on the belts, hair bands, saddles for riding, sandals, and more.Tequila is a distilled beverage created from the blue agave plant that takes its name from the Mexican town of Santiago de Tequila. This town and the surrounding region of 35,019 ha (86533 acres), which features the cultivation of blue agave plants, have been declared a World Heritage Site because of Tequila’s popularity and its traditional manufacturing of drink.Mezcal is a high-alcoholic liquor beverage made from juice extracted from piña or heart in the center from mature thick leaves of Maguey. Initially, more than 70% of mezcal was manufactured in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, but it is now produced all over the world.The syrup is made from agave nectar mostly from two plant species, Agave americana and A. tequilana, and is often used to substitute for sugar or honey. Blue-agave (A. tequilana) syrup is 1.4-1.6 times sweeter than sugar. The Blue gave syrup comprises around 56-60% fructose, 20% glucose with a small quantity of sucrose, whereas sucrose is the primary ingredient in A. salmiana.Century plants can be used as a hedge plant for erosion control and to recover barren and deforested lands.The larvae of various insects, such as butterflies and moths, feed on century plants. Particularly, the Batrachedra moth is often found feeding on agave shawii.Only a few century plants are edible from 200 species. Some leaves can be directly eaten, while certain leaves need to be boiled, and for others only the nectar can be ingested. Any that taste bitter should be avoided as they might be poisonous. The Natural Habitat Of Century PlantsMost century plants grow very slowly, yet a century plant has a wide range of applications and economic significance. So, where do these plants grow in the wild? Let’s take a look at some of these facts concerning its habitat.Agave species occur in their natural habitat, the ranges of semiarid environments above the desert, particularly in grasslands and oak-pine woods. In the wild, you can find Agave plants all the way from mountain state Utah in western North America to Mexico, with a few species in South America and Caribbean islands.It has also been observed that the Sonoran desert area has around 40 of the 150 North American species.Aside from their native environment, century plants are drought-tolerant plants that may be cultivated like a beautiful desert-style cactus in landscapes, gardens, coastal habitats, and other environs since they require little irrigation.If you are looking for a home plant that can exist in hot climates and only requires a little watering, this may be the best option.A century plant is commonly spread by its roots, daughter plants, and stem fragments and form dense colonies in bare sand. Besides planting a century plant, it can also easily be carried to new locations by ocean tides, soil movement, and discarded vegetation.Caring For A Century PlantYou might want to grow this century plant at home because of its attractive appearance and numerous uses. Before adding this ornamental plant to your garden, do look at all of the precautions you should take when growing this century plant.Since century plants have sharp spines at the tip and prickly leaves, these plants must be placed a minimum of 6 ft (1.82 m) out from areas where kids and pets play to avoid any injury to both domestic livestock or native animals like dogs.Most century plants can handle strong winds, heat, and drought, but they cannot withstand cold temperatures, particularly freezing ones.When temperatures approach 50-54 F (10-12 C), these century plants enter a dormant state.Freezing temperatures may also harm century plants, and their leaves may develop cracking, or sores on their surfaces, or they may be badly damaged and become mushy, dry, and brown. Moreover, most century plants may perish due to these damages.You should take some preventive measures before winter to help your century plant survive in winter. You need to place the plant near a warm place and further see that it does enclose some heat from the brick or concrete from a nearby wall in the night.You can also place a cotton sheet over the century plant. But do remember that you should not use a plastic cover as it may cause damage to the plant leaves. When you grow century plants in suitable pots, it might be easy to move indoors during such circumstances.When you are growing a century plant at home, you need to grow in a very porous, sandy soil and let it dry between watering. You need to note that you must remove damaged leaves after their winter rest and repot it every spring.Drop or expanding natural vegetation in agave plants may cause bugs that infest agave and other succulents, causing tremendous damage to a landscape. Hence to prevent suckering, the taproot of young plants or small plants should be dug out carefully and removed. In larger plants, you need to cut the leaves close to the ground, or these large plants can be picked with the help of machines or need a chemical control with herbicides such as glyphosate and picloram.Growing a century plant is effortless, but you must exercise caution since it is observed that Americana agave is known to create six-sided raphides that contain saponins in their sap. This sap is poisonous and can cause severe skin irritation or stomach issues.
Different ornamental plants may be grown in gardens, homes, and along the river for their color, aroma, unique structure, and pattern.
