Watch: Century plant begins rare bloom outside Mississippi business

May 7 (UPI) — Employees at a pet grooming business in Mississippi were shocked when a century plant outside the building suddenly started to bloom several feet tall.

Workers at the Shaggy Chic Pet Salon, which just moved into its Long Beach location in January, said they initially did not think anything was unusual about the plant outside the building.

They only discovered it was a century plant, also known as Agave attenuata or American aloe, when its bloom suddenly started to grow several feet tall.

Century plants take about 8 to 30 years to bloom, and the event, known as a “death bloom,” signals the end of its life cycle. The blooms have been known to grow to up to 20 feet tall.