Blooming late is blooming...

"The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;

planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green" ... (Psalm 92:12-14) 

A desert plant native to Mexico, the Agave Americana, commonly called Century plant due to its flowering habit, thrives in hot dry areas and can take up to 70 years to bloom depending on climatic conditions.

Michigan's octogenarian agave was a green giant with a death wish. Visitors  poured into the University of Michigan's Matthaei Botanical Gardens to catch a glimpse of the rare plant, which was first acquired by the institution all the way back in 1934.

For the first time in 80 years, the 27 foot high agave (Agave Americana) had begun to bloom. Its flowering stalk grew at an impressive 6 inches per day – so fast that staff had to remove a pane of glass from the ceiling to make room for its growth spurt.

It might have put on a show, but for monocarpic species, like the American agave, flowering is fatal. "The agave should bloom ... for several weeks," says the Matthaei Botanical Gardens website. "After that, the parent plant will die, but not before leaving behind some genetically identical 'pups'."

There are many such human examples of successful late bloomers.  

One is Harland Sanders, famous for creating Kentucky Fried Chicken. He was 62 years old when he franchised KFC and our lives were never the same.

Can you imagine how weird it would look if Colonel Sanders was a 20 something man on the bucket of your chicken wings? He needed that beautiful white hair as the face of this fantastic fried franchise.

Maybe you are a late bloomer. 

Your best days are yet to be. Never give up. 

Be encouraged by the Americana Agave and Colonel Sanders. 

Blooming late is blooming great.