WRAL's century plant skyrockets to 14 feet after recent rain

The plant, which could exceed heights of 20 feet, has a lot more growing to do. According to CBC corporate estate gardener Ken Sandy, the plant will continue to grow and bloom this summer and may not die until the fall.

"You'll be able to watch an absolute explosion of nature," says Tony Avent at Plant Delights Nursery. "It's so full of nectar. Bees will come from all over the neighborhood. If we've got hummingbirds out, the hummingbirds will be there. The ants will be all over because it's like pure sugar water."

Avent knows the history of the plant better than almost anyone. He was there when the species, known as Agave Ovatifolia, first came to Juniper Level Botanic Garden in Raleigh.

In fact, just a few decades ago humans were not even aware this particular species existed.

"We were one of the first nurseries to get it," says Avent. "We had friends go down and collect seed in the wild."

Plant explorer Lynn Lowrey first discovered this specific species of century plant in the 1970s. He died before his research was complete – but first he planted them around the Dallas area.

It was many years later before the species was officially realized as a new species, given the name Agave Ovatifolia, and brought to Raleigh.

"It's really a fairly recent human discovery, which is pretty amazing," said Avent.

Meaning the century plant in WRAL's Azalea Garden has an even more interesting history than initially thought.

Avent remembers the day WRAL's former landscaper Jack Lamm came to Plant Delights Nursery and picked up the century plant.

"He's a regular customer of ours," says Avent. "He asked, 'Do you have a larger one? I'd really like to plant one here at the station that will freak everybody out when it comes to bloom."

The plan worked: Many employees had no idea, despite walking past the plant dozens of times, that it would one day sprout 20 feet and bring excitement to the gardens.

"It's like one of those surprise moments. You go out there and it's like, 'Oh my goodness, what is this?'" he says. "Today, people are bombarded by so much information, sometimes they need something that breaks them our of their routine. Century plants can do that better than any other plant!"

He says it's a classic Jack and the Beanstalk moment – especially for kids.

Avent, however, has WRAL's plant beat: Last year, 17 century plants grew all at once in Juniper Level Bontanic Garden.

"I think we have nine blooming this year," he says.

In North Carolina's humid environment, 'century' plants really only live two or three decades at most. However, in the wild and in more dry climates, they can live close to a century.

"In wild areas where they grow naturally the climate is very dry, only 8 to 12 inches of rain a year. So it literally could take them 100 years to bloom," says Avent.

However, in North Carolina where we could get six times more rain, the plants bloom six times as fast, he says, taking only 15 years or so.

Avent says agave plants were 'the plant of life' for some older cultures and villages in South America and Mexico.

"As the pre-Columbians moved up from South America through Mexico and into North America, they brought their favorite century plants with them," he says. "They would plant them everywhere they settled. Then, those agaves would cross with native agaves."

As a result, a type of agave known as a pre-Columbian hybrid spread and interbred up through Arizona and Utah.

Each village would have their own agave, he says. They were full of water, and they could be used to make fiber and rooftops. Parts of the plant made an alcoholic drink called mezcal. The mezcal would taste different from village to village.

"These agave plants kept their cultures alive. They did everything with agave," he says. "It was the plant of life."

Because villages relied on these plants so heavily, when a century plant finally grew a stalk and began flowering, it wasn't always a happy or exciting occasion as it is today.

"This plant had given them so much life and then it expires – and then of course you're left with seed, and hopefully you can grow more from that," he says. "They'd celebrate and mourn at the same time."

"We've done right at 100 trips," says Avent.

He says plants are going extinct at a 'crazy rate.'

"There are 37.6% of plants in the world are in danger due to either being endangered or threatened," he says. "It's due primarily to agriculture and housing. The world is using up so many of our resources."

Juniper Level is a conservation garden, bringing plants in from all over to be studied, propagated and then spread out through the community through their nursery.

"The rarer a plant is, the more important it is that we make it available to people all over the world," he says.