The Century Plant

When Leyden and I visited our cousins in Austin, Texas last November, I saw Century Plants everywhere and asked our cousins what they were because I’d seen one on my daily commute for years and wondered what kind of plant it was. "Texas Tom" and "Suzy" explained that the Century Plant is native to Texas, produces a flower stalk that is very tall, and the plant dies once the stalk is produced. Also, contrary to the name, they bloom after 10-15 years, not a century.

So, earlier this year, around March, the Century Plant that I see every day bloomed, and I was so excited! One day I stopped and took this picture. 

I loved how the bloom at the top of the tall stalk looked like a tree out of a Dr. Seuss book! It was such an amazing sight to see – this plant with downward sloped leaves with an asparagus-like stalk shooting out of the middle, reaching for the sky. I enjoyed seeing the plant on my way to work every day, and I was always interested to see how much taller it had grown. I often wondered how long it would take for the plant to decay and if the stalk would fall over or just shrivel up and shrink away, but mostly I was just happy to see it!

The plant itself has been turning darker and darker lately, and it got to the point that the plant was looking almost black, even though the stalk remained a pretty green. I came to work on Monday of this week and I noticed that the plant had been cut down and removed from its place in the center of the yard. The almost completely intact plant bottom was beside the driveway of the house, with a few long, dark leaves piled on top of it. The green stalk had been split into pieces and thrown beside the pile. The inside of the stalk was a light color and looked like wood. I really wanted to stop and touch it because I was so curious about its texture. 

In the Century Plant's place in the yard stood a bird bath encircled by pine straw in a small concrete border. It made me sad, because that plant was a bright spot in my morning – a reminder of my precious cousins in Texas who told me all about this special plant, and it made me think of the silliness of Dr. Seuss and how God must really have enjoyed creating such wonderful things on this earth for us to marvel over. 

I knew the day I saw the bloom for the first time that it would be temporary and the plant would die, and I thought I had prepared myself for its demise, but I realized on Monday that I missed that interesting plant way more than I thought I would. I didn't realize that the plant made me feel a connection to my family, and had become a sort of symbol of the good times we enjoyed with them in Austin.

Then I remembered what the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:

"There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die, 

a time to plant and a time to uproot, 

a time to kill and a time to heal, 

a time to tear down and a time to build, 

a time to weep and a time to laugh, 

a time to mourn and a time to dance, 

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, 

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 

a time to search and a time to give up, 

a time to keep and a time to throw away, 

a time to tear and a time to mend, 

a time to be silent and a time to speak, 

a time to love and a time to hate, 

a time for war and a time for peace."

 Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

This Century Plant that I had come to enjoy so much had a time to be planted and a time to be uprooted, and its time had come to be cut down and thrown away. I shouldn't be sad about that; I should be grateful that I was able to experience it. I can plant my own Century Plant in my yard and watch it grow and one day watch it bloom! And when it dies, I won't be sad, I'll thank God for the opportunity to watch it grow, and perhaps go buy another!