A California man’s front yard is attracting attention online after several massive “death blooms” emerged from his agave plants. His neighbor, who posts on Reddit under the name Jessbird, said he had recently redesigned the entire yard with new desert landscaping. “All his agaves sent up death blooms and will probably be dead by summer,” she wrote in r/Wellthatsucks, where tens of thousands of Redditors joined the conversation.
For those unaware, agaves only bloom once in their lifespan: near the time of the plant’s death, hence the name. It’s quite a sight to behold, but it’s also a cause for alarm, and Jessbird knows all too well how awful an inconvenience such beautiful blooms can become, especially to someone’s garden or yard.
The Poster Claims The Process of Removing Death Blooms Is a Nightmare
“I’d be livid,” the poster remarks, explaining how a death bloom can eventually turn into a “razor-sharp very tough husk that you have to hack away with a saw/machete, and then the core of the plant needs to be dug out of the ground.” All the while, the sap from the leaves is caustic and can cause severe skin irritation if the plant isn’t fully dried out.
If removing the dead agaves and their blooms weren’t enough trouble, waiting for them to dry out for safety is another hassle. As Jessbird puts it, “newly dead agaves are heavy as HELL so often it makes more sense to wait for it to fully dry out, which means you have an ugly-ass plant in your yard for weeks.” Still, many agreed the death blooms were quite a spectacle, if the removal process wasn’t taken into account.
“Crazy someone would plant these voluntarily somewhere!” exclaimed a commenter, pointing out how long and physically intense it is to unravel the root systems of a death bloom. On the flip side, one person argued that the roots might not be as large as others believe, since the neighbor has only recently planted them in his front yard. “In any case, it sucks because they were probably paid a lot for their size,” the user concluded.
