Walter Mencken 6:15 p.m., Feb. 28
Agaves, (a.k.a. century plants), are coming into bloom in many summer gardens this month. After a decade or more (not a century) of growth, the larger kinds of agave send up a tall, yellow-blossomed flower stalk from a base of fleshy, succulent, thorn-tipped leaves. The stalk and basal leaves die, but suckers make new plants and begin the cycle anew.