My neighbor's comment about her 'ugly' plant changed how I see my whole garden

I was helping my neighbor, Linda, move a big pot on her patio last weekend. She pointed to this scraggly, spiky plant she called 'the ugly one' and said she was about to toss it. I told her it was a century plant, Agave americana, and that it only blooms once after like 25 or 30 years, then dies. She just stared at it and said, 'So it's been waiting this whole time just for one show?' It hit different because I realized I only value my plants for constant looks, not their whole life story. Now I'm looking at my own yard wondering what else I'm missing. Has anyone else had a plant they learned to appreciate for its weird lifecycle?

3 comments

3 Comments

tarab541mo ago

Totally get that. I had a ponytail palm that just sat there doing nothing for two years. I almost gave it away. Then one spring it shot up this crazy curly flower spike that looked like something from a Dr. Seuss book. It taught me to stop checking for new leaves every week. Now I have a weird succulent that looks like a pile of rocks. I just let it be. Its whole job is to not look like a plant, and that's fine.

susanh461mo ago

Remember my mom's weird cactus that looked dead for years. It was this brown lump in a clay pot she refused to throw out. Then one summer it put out this single, huge, stinky flower overnight. The smell was awful, but she was so proud. It made me realize some plants are just on a totally different clock. I started giving my own "ugly" plants more slack after that.

matthew_owens914d ago

Always thought plants needed to look nice or get tossed. Your mom's cactus story totally flipped that for me. Now I've got this weird shriveled thing on my windowsill I'm just letting do its thing.