Blooming magic at the 'Botanic'

Excitement is growing at the National Botanic Garden of Wales in Llanarthne, near Carmarthen, where an eight-foot-tall puya plant is about to burst into bloom for the first time in a decade.
A native of Chile, the Puya chilensis – which can be found in the Great Glasshouse – boasts the biggest bud in Wales and is set to provide a real spectacle for garden visitors.
The puya has never blossomed before so staff aren’t sure about when the flowers will come.
The puya has long, narrow leaves which are edged with vicious, hooked thorns – protection again nibbling animals such as rabbits, sheep and llama. On the slopes of the Andes, where the plants flourish, if these grazing animals get too close they can become trapped in the puya’s spikes and starve to death. As they rot, they become compost and feed the soil around the puya. This helps the plant to grow bigger.
Horticulturist in charge of the Great Glasshouse, Marilla Burgess says: “It looks amazing – even just in bud. It should be much more dramatic when it has opened, definitely worth the wait – we are just not sure how long that wait will be.”
When the puya blossoms, the individual flowers can measure a couple of inches and provide a deep receptacle for the nectar that the birds, bees and even some gardeners – with due diligence to the vicious thorns – to enjoy.
It is said – by Alasdair Moore, of Tresco Abbey Garden, on the Isles of Scilly – that, plucked on a dewy morning – one puya flower contains a delicious nip of syrupy nectar, providing a honey espresso for the jaded gardener, as well as the busy pollinator.

Puya is a genus of more than 160 species, the majority of which are to be found on the mountains and foothills of the Andes.