Iann - any chance you can be a little more specific here? Your saying 'some' or 'most' etc. is intriguing. Is this from personal experience or from something you have read? I have tried a lot of these but failed - but with specific names maybe I should be able try again? I have lost several species ...

Ok then - does any one know of a source of any old santa-rita? ;^)

Or is anyone interested in trading?

Cheers

Anyone know of a UK source of good, purple coloured forms of this, at all?

Cheers

Paul

What a little cutie! We don't get hedgehogs here, which is a shame.

How long did it take to de-flea yourself afterwards?!

Chris - No one nursery in particular. Largely, in the past, I have grown from seed, but that isn't exactly an instant fix. After that I just trawled through the nurseries in the cactus mall every now and then to see what was being offered. Also visiting cactus/succulent nurseries and BCSS shows. The...

Dave - are you growing these in garden soil?!

One of the big problems for recommending species for outdoors is that there is huge clonal variation. Many agaves, especially those grown more widely, have a very diverse geographical distribution and the provenance can make all the difference. For example some americana are bullet-proof down to -8C...

I've been watching this spectacle unravel over the weeks and am absolutely enthralled by it. Thanks, Geoff, for taking the time and effort to keep up the picture diary.

One question - why not dismantle the polytunnel? Let the beast see out it's final days as nature intended...