Once In Its Lifetime: The 15-Foot-Tall Agave At The Arboretum Blooms

Five stories that have North Texas talking: Jesús Moroles died in a car accident Monday; the St. Louis Cardinals are accused of foul play; a mother and son protest fracking in Denton; and more.
The Agave victoriae-reginae (named for Queen Victoria of England) only blooms for two to four weeks in its 10-to-50-year lifetime. The 20-year-old plant at the Dallas Arboretum has been flaunting its white blooms for about a week, so the time is now to see the plant in its towering glory. According to the Arboretum, the Agave victoriae-reginae is endangered in its native and current habitat – the Sierra Madre mountain range in Chihuahua, Mexico. The Agave prefers full sun to very light shade, according to the Arboretum experts, as well as drained soil and very little water. This weekend when the sun returns might be the best opportunity to head to the Rory Meyers Children’s Adventure Garden to see the plant at its peak. 

• The Texas and Oklahoma art community are mourning the loss of Jesús Moroles. The Corpus Christi-born stone sculptor, died Monday in a car wreck on I-35 north of Georgetown en route to Oklahoma from his home in Rockport. The 64-year-old artist contributed his talents across Texas, creating massive, outdoor sculptures like the Stele Parkway in Lubben Plaza Park near Young and South Austin Streets, the Houston Police Officers Memorial (his largest work at 120 feet by 120 feet), and 15-foot columns installed just last Friday in Hall Arts. Moroles won the National Medal of the Arts in 2008 and was named the artist-in-residence at the University of Arts and Sciences in Chickasha, Oklahoma in May of this year. Read more from Art&Seek's Jerome Weeks, who reported on the artist's unexpected and unfortunate death, as well as an archived interview with Moroles from 2010. [Art&Seek, KERA News]

Here's how a few members of the art community reacted to the news:

• The St. Louis Cardinals might have hacked into the Houston Astros database. NPR reported Tuesday: “There's no word on any potential charges in the case, or on who within the Cardinals' organization might have been involved. The breach is said to have occurred last year and to have centered on proprietary information about players and team operations.” Investigators are curious about the shared connection between the Cardinals and the Astros: Jeff Luhnow. “Luhnow became the general manager for the Astros in late 2011; prior to that, he was a vice president in the Cardinals' organization, focusing on evaluating players,” according to the report. Read more here. [NPR]

• Watch a Dallas police officer deflate James Boulware’s tires. Dallas County Sheriff Deputy Katrina Caldwell quickly set a long, barbed strip — called stop sticks — across Highway 20 to puncture the tires of James Boulware’s van as he fled from police early Saturday morning. Boulware shot about 40 rounds at Jack Evans police headquarters around 12:30 a.m. Saturday. He was stopped and surrounded by police on the highway in Hutchins approximately 15 minutes later, probably thanks to Deputy Caldwell’s swift sabotage.  [Associated Press]

• A 92-year-old woman and her son were arrested Tuesday morning for refusing to budge from a gas well site in Denton. The Denton Record-Chronicle reported: “The pair [Violet and Theron Palmer] sat in front of the same gate that has drawn protests several times in the past few weeks, ever since Colorado-based Vantage Energy announced they would resume hydraulically fracturing wells at the “Long Term” pad site on Nail Road." The mother and son, who actually chained himself to the gate, are just an example of many Denton protestors acting against House Bill 40 that “essentially nullified the citizens’ initiative that banned fracking.” [Denton Record-Chronicle]