Flowering annuals generally bloom nonstop before dying at the end of the year or season. Perennials return every year, providing either season-long color, a burst of blossoms followed by sporadic blooming or a limited show that can last as little as two weeks. And biennials flower only in their second year before calling it quits.
But there’s another group of plants called monocarpics that spend their whole lives growing in size only to provide a single, swan-song bloom before leaving us for the great compost pile in the sky. Some monocarpic plants, whose name is derived from the Greek for single (“mono”) and fruit (“carpos”), have a cult following among a subset of gardeners who revel in what can be years of anticipation, often throwing parties to display their plant’s once-in-a-lifetime death bloom. Others growers, however, can be caught off guard to discover their 30-year-old landscape plant unexpectedly blooming, only to watch it die immediately afterward.
Flowers, of course, have a purpose: to ensure the posterity of their species. After their bloom concludes, plants produce seeds to ensure future generations, which completes their mission. Monocarpic plants have just one shot at this, so, as you might imagine, the effort is often spectacular.
Examples of these one-hit wonders Take the century plant (Agave americana), whose name is the poster child for hyperbole. Rather than living for 100 years, as its name suggests, the desert plant native to Mexico and Tex.