The Beardsley Zoo greenhouse has two century plants getting ready to bloom.

They are native to southern Mexico, but are widely cultivated and naturalized in other countries. They are known as century plants because of how long it takes for them to reproduce.

One of the two has rapidly grown to more than 9 feet and the second is more than 7 feet. Adding approximately 3 inches every day, soon the spears will be brushing the high ceilings of the Victorian Greenhouse, where the last century plant bloomed in 2003.

The agave was donated to the zoo in the 1950s during construction of the Connecticut Turnpike

The Beardsley Zoo is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.