Going up: Agave blooms & peas
Wow! Just look at the bloom stalk the ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave (A. ovatifolia ) is sending up! Have you ever seen anything like it before?
No, neither have I.
With tongue removed from cheek, here is an update on the ‘Macho Mocha’ mangave’s bloom stalk, still going up.
And whaddya know? There are peas coming up in my garden. I’ve never had more than a passing interest in growing edibles, aside from herbs like basil and rosemary. But my daughter asked for a packet of peas to plant in her new garden, and about a week and a half ago she read the planting instructions and carefully pushed each pea into the soil. (She was astonished to see, when she opened the packet, that the pea seeds are actual peas, like we eat. So clearly this will be an educational experience as well as fruitful, we hope.)
Yesterday after school, as we made the rounds of the new-baby garden, her sharp eyes spotted pea seedlings coming up. What excitement! Let’s just hope they don’t require any babying because I’m clueless about how to baby peas.
All material © 2006-2009 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
My heart skipped a beat when you said your whale’s tongue had a bloom stalk lol. Cool picture! Thanks for the belated April Fool’s laugh (Mr. Macho, on the other hand, is looking fine indeed!).
That would have been good for April Fools, you’re right. Wish I’d thought of that. —Pam
Wow, I can’t wait to see what the bloom looks like on that thing. Pretty soon you won’t be able to fit the whole plant in one picture. (That happened to me with a Flapjack plant. The bloom stalk towered over my head.) Good luck with the peas. I don’t know a lot about them but I would say you should probably hope for coolish weather for a while, in order to get some peas before the heat kills them!
Well, they’re doomed then. It’ll be hot any day now. 😉 —Pam
I love it! 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it, Phillip. —Pam
LOL! Great that your daughter is learning about growing food. There’s nothing like the taste of just picked ripe vegetables and fruits.
Perhaps we’ll find out, Nicole. —Pam
That is one interesting bloomstalk on the agave, lol. Good luck with your peas, I’ve never grown them before since nobody except me likes them in this house. This will be a fun experience for your daughter. 🙂
Yes, she’s excited about it. —Pam
Here is a good, Texas related Pea site. Peas, strawberries, greens and rhubarb are better as fall crops. It almost time to plant southern peas and green beans so maybe your daughter can grow something similar successfully
http://www.texasgardener.com/newsletters/061025/default.htm
Thanks for the link, Marilyn. —Pam
I checked out the Macho Mocha on campus a few minutes ago, and the bloom spike is now at about 6 ft. (taller than me, that’s for sure). It hasn’t begun to open, yet, but it looks like it won’t be long before that happens.
That’s exciting, Terra. I hope mine gets that tall too, although a big Texas persimmon grows above it, and I wouldn’t want it to get up in the branches where I can’t see it. —Pam
Is that mangave getting purpler? Or is it just the camera angle…
I think it might be. Interesting. —Pam
Hi Pam, everything looks wonderful. I have grown peas before, but not in Texas. They do like to start out cool. They do need something to twine around, there will be tendrils, like sweet peas if you have ever grown them. It should be slender, like the small diameter bamboo stakes, about five feet tall. Or make a fence of netting, same height. There is no comparison with fresh peas and canned or frozen, like it is not even the same vegetable. Are these garden peas or sugar snaps? If they are sugar snaps you can eat the pods too, not having to wait for the peas to get fat inside the pod. Enjoy, and kudos to the daughter. 🙂
Frances
Thanks for the growing info, Frances. These are ‘Alaska’ garden peas, an early-maturing variety (55 days), and she planted them around the base of a 4-ft metal tuteur, which should work fine. We’ll see if the heat gets them before 55 days go by. —Pam
Your bottle tree inspired my Arizona Bottle Tree. Come see!
Aiyana
I love it, Aiyana. Congrats and happy birthday! —Pam
you are an amazing gardener to raise such a bloom stalk…..congrats!
Why thanks, CIMS. —Pam
LOL – the Whale’s Tongue blooms! I think I did something wrong with my sweet peas. I planted them more than 2 weeks ago, but I still don’t see anything. And here are your peas, up & growing after a week and a half. Clearly, I must have done something wrong. Time to try again. Good luck with the peas. I hope you get a big harvest.
These are the early-maturing ‘Alaska’ variety, MMD. Maybe that makes a difference, or maybe they sense our hot summer coming and are trying to produce before it gets them. —Pam
This is great news! We so want youngsters to be interested in gardening. She hasn’t fallen far from the tree then, huh?
Brenda
No, she’s my little gardener, Brenda. She likes to take photos too. I need to get her her own camera. —Pam
Such a different garden world that you live in, Pam! I always enjoying seeing plants that are exotic to me. Did the Hill Country get a freeze last night? It was in the forecast that I saw and hope your garden is fine.
Cheers,
Cameron
No, I’m on the northwest side of Austin, not far from downtown, and I didn’t even worry about it. This is a fairly warm part of town. I don’t think it got below 38 F, although I’m not exactly sure. The Hill Country, 30 minutes to two hours to the west, is considerably cooler and did get a light freeze. —Pam
I grew some peas in the winter and I now have a packet that says they are “warm weather” peas. I bet they’ll do just fine! If not, good learning in that too. YUM, fresh peas. We sit on our trampoline and eat em by the bowlfull.
That sounds like fun, Mamaholt. If we are lucky enough to harvest peas, we’ll have to try it. —Pam
Pam – that’s so exciting that she wants to garden like her Mom and that she’s getting to watch the peas. While I was planting a new bed today, I sent my girl into the garden for a self-picked snack of fresh, juicy strawberries. She loved being able to help plant them, watch them grow and now pick and eat them herself. Have fun!
Now that’s a healthy, homegrown snack. Yummy! —Pam
Good luck with your daughter’s gardening project. I can sense your daughter’s wonder in what you wrote. It sounds like it’ll be educational for you as well since peas will be a new experience for you as well. Both of you learning together–that’s so cool!
Who knows, it may inspire us both to put in a vegetable garden. —Pam
Love the whales tongue bloom. Does this mean it will die after the bloom crumbles? Long may the bloom last. tee hee..
What excitement with the peas. I love fresh peas. It will be educational as well as tasty. Can’t wait to hear about how she likes shelling those peas.
That bloom stalk is guaranteed to last, Lisa. 😉 —Pam