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Big Budder

The biggest bud in Carmarthenshire is keeping staff at the National Botanic Garden of Wales on tenterhooks.

The puya plant in the Great Glasshouse has never flowered before so horticulturists aren’t sure when it will blossom.

A native of Chile, the plant 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.

Senior horticulturist Jess Gould said: “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 , though it is absolutely huge, so I can’t believe it will take all that long.”

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 over 160 species, the majority of which are to be found on the mountains and foothills of the Andes. The upright bud in the Great Glasshouse stands at 7ft tall.