Agave Paryii is the Southwest New Mexico variety of plant that grows in many arid parts of the world. The common name, Century Plant, implies that they live for a 100 years before perishing in a magnificent display of colorful blooms on a long stalk. Actually, the blooms occur after 20 to 40 years rather than a century. Here is a haiku about them.

Agave breaks free
waiting forty years for this
death blooms in new life

Agaves were used for fiber and food by the Apaches and other Indians. The heart is bitter when raw, but can be made palatable by baking. A form of Agave called Maguey is the main ingredient of Tequila. Today the stalks are sometimes used to create didgeridoos.

The property is covered with Agaves, but only a few bloom each year. The first year there were about six blooms on our 21 acres. A few years ago following heavy rains we had hundreds of blooms. What causes the difference? The weather now? The weather 40 years ago? We don't know.

The stalks of blooming plants burst out in May and grow very rapidly, sometimes a foot a week. They can reach a height of 15 feet or so (some varieties of Agave go much higher). They blossom in the summer and by late fall the plants are dead. In the process the stalks sometimes go through color transformations including greens, yellows, reds, and oranges. The blossoms fall off and the plants gradually dry out and turn brown. By December they are ready to be cut down and decorated as Southwest Christmas trees. Left in the landscape, they stand as dark skeletal shapes for several years before rotting and falling over.
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