Thursday, November 17, 2016

Squeeeeee!!

That sound you may have heard coming from the PNW this past weekend was me squealing for joy when my husband brought in the mail. He was holding a box and wondering who I knew in Texas named....Penick?

Inside the box were three whale's tongue Agave bulbils from Pam Penick, who writes the blog Digging. She lives in Austin, Texas and over the summer her infamous Agave ovatifolia Moby bloomed and died, and in the process produced many, many bulbils, little Agave babies, all along the flower stalk. She posted about it here and here, and offered the babies to fellow bloggers online. I jumped at the chance to grow one. What a thrill to get three! One and two spares.



I potted them up immediately in some free-draining cactus potting soil that I had bought just a few days before, and left them on a heating mat inside the greenhouse. Now I have to decide what to name them.

Whale's tongue Agaves all potted up


Should I name them after other characters in the book Moby Dick? Ishmael, Queequeg, and Starbuck.

Or, here's an idea. I could name them after the three Puget Sound Orca pods. 

J pod, K pod and L pod. But that's not particularly imaginative. Maybe names that start with those initials, like Jessie, Katie and Libby? For some reason, I think they're girl Agaves.

What do you think? Got any ideas? It has to be something to do with whales, since they're whale's tongue Agaves.

Thanks so much, Pam! I can't wait till they're big!
Posted by at

11 comments:

  1. hahaha...that's so sweet...Moby's progeny will live on in many gardens :-)

    ReplyDelete

  2. You brought out my first laugh of the day. I needed that. Too bad my parents wouldn't want a big spiny rozette 8n their garden, or I might have asked for pups, too. As for names, I find myself partial to Queequeg. :)

    ReplyDelete

  3. I like your Orca pod idea! (and I love that Pam has so much beautiful tissue -- you, Peter and I all got different patterns)

    ReplyDelete

  4. So that's what the sound was. We were wondering. Jonah? From a list of famous whales - Old Tom, Shamu, Humphrey, Migaloo, Keiko, Delta, Dawn. So cool that we hae Moby kids. What a sweet thing for Pam to do. When ours bloom, we should do the same!

    ReplyDelete

  5. I like the Moby Dick-based names. I received a package from Pam too with babies for me and 3 other SoCal bloggers - I've potted them up for delivery at a meet-up in early December. Moby is conquering the world - one blogger at a time!

    ReplyDelete

  6. Yippee! I'm so excited to see Moby's spawn making their way around the country. Thanks for being their adoptive mom, Alison. BTW, I love the orca name idea! Pam/Digging: http://www.penick.net/digging

    ReplyDelete

  7. Just saw Peters whale pups. How about kinds of whales : Killer, Blue, and Humpback. :-)

    ReplyDelete

  8. I'm in awe; can't wait to see the pups grow up.

    ReplyDelete

  9. are you starting a fund now for removing the gigantic dead agave plant in eleven years?
    I have three Parthenocissus tricuspidata 'Green Showers' that i obtained together named Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Harry is the most vigorous glorious vine of the three.

    ReplyDelete

  10. Nothing like receiving a shipment of plants to lift your spirits.

    ReplyDelete

Gardening is a solitary activity. But blogging about it is a social phenomenon! I don't make money from my blog by advertising, or use it to drive customers to a business. If you liked my post, or my writing or photography, or even just one picture or turn of phrase, I'd love to hear from you. That's how I get paid.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)