Publisher's journal: It happens only once in a lifetime

Kylie Fogler is no gardener. But she just may have the most interesting plant in Clovis today.

She didn't think much about it when she and her Air Force husband moved into their home at 2224 Ralph Boone near Mesa Elementary School in October.

But then about two weeks ago, the cactus started growing ... or blooming ... or something.

"I just noticed this bloom coming out of it ... it's growing about 12 inches a day. It's over 10 feet tall now," Fogler said on Thursday.

"I am 5-foot-9 and I stand in front of it and it's way past my head."

Fogler said she knows nothing about plants, so she picked up her phone.

"I called my dad and asked, 'Why is there a giant asparagus growing out of my plant?'"

Fogler and her dad, Doug Brown, began researching. Turns out, the plant Fogler described looked a lot like one Brown had been reading about that was making headlines in his community of Wichita, Kan.

"It's referred to as a century plant," Fogler said. "The bloom will get up to 40 feet tall. The cactus, unfortunately, will die after it blooms, but it will produce seeds that I can plant."

The internet reports Fogler's agave cactus is commonly called a century plant, though it only lives 10 to 30 years. Near the end of its life, it sends up a tall, branched stalk, covered in yellow blossoms.

She's excited to see what happens next and she wants to share.

"I would love for people to drive by and see it as it grows," she said.

It's the only asparagus taller than a house on Ralph Boone Drive.

David Stevens is publisher of Clovis Media Inc. Email him at:

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