Over Achieving

One of the reasons we were attracted to this house was the backyard. For one, it has a backyard. There is a section with grass and a nice, mature tree. Then, fenced off for safety, there is the section with the pool. At first there were only a couple of small desert plants by the pool, and one stand of ornamental grass. Mostly, there were landscaping rocks. We really didn't like it so barren, plus, we could help cool our house by planting things along the wall to create shade.

So, we added drip lines to plants already there, and planted more things, and after five years, our pool surround is really pleasant and green, with a lush, flowering bush climbing up a trellis and shading our living room. There is a palm-like tree growing near it, and some Mojave yucca. Which brings me to this post...

About a week ago, Cool Guy called me outside to look at something. I was astounded. Instead of this pointy, sword-leafed yucca, shaped like a ball, that had responded to the regular watering of the drip lines to grow slightly in diameter....

We had this bizarre development:

That is a shaft that has grown out of the center of this round, spiky yucca and on it are growing little pod-like tufts.

I have looked it up on-line and I believe that each of these pods will become a flower. In the meantime, it continues to grow taller each day. The speed with which it got from a round ball-shaped plant to this bizarre Seussian object is the astonishing part. It seemed to sprout almost within days and become a towering pole overnight. Here is a shot with a human in it to give it more perspective.

One of the reasons we are so impressed is that it is a native Mojave desert plant, and it is so outlandish in contrast to the usual features of desert plants. Generally, the flora here is subtle and subdued, carefully hoarding life force through small flowers and tiny, waxy leaf structures. One doesn't usually see a display of natural extravagance in Las Vegas. I can hardly wait to see what happens next!