CleanSteve

By CleanSteve

Agave polyphylla about to flower

I suddenly decided to go looking for a replacement plant which I knew was available on offer online. My wonderful Sollya Heterophylla suddenly died last year after about eight years of providing its delightful tiny blue flowers. I did a search and found that a local nursery specialising in rare plants possibly had a Sollya (otherwise known as a Bluebell Creeper, and originally from Australia) so set off to track it down.

On the way to Frampton where the nursery was located, I suddenly thought a visit to the local 'big' and popular mainstream nursery might also be worthwhile, so diverted accordingly. It was a good move as the main gardener there told me they had some and took me to see them.  The size and condition was excellent, as well as their price, being cheaper than the online offer and almost certainly much more mature. 

Having bought the plant I decided to still visit the rare plant nursery and wasn't disappointed. They had a wonderful collection of plant varieties many of which I'd never seen before from all around the world. One i liked was this Agave polyphylla. It had a marker beside it saying: 
'The fabled 'Spiral Aloe' from the High Drakensberg, South Africa. This gem of the succulent world forms a rosette up to two feet in diameter, with a spiral leaf arrangement. Hardy in a cold greenhouse.'

I also found that they did have another Sollya Heterophylla, which was a bit bigger than the one I had just bought, but it was twice the price. I shall return and buy some other rare gems when the money flows in!

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