Tenby’s Giltar Hotel has brought the summer saga of its ‘death flower’ to a close - with head gardener Simon Rowlands giving a final update on the rare phenomenon as the season comes to an end.<br />Simon and the Giltar are no strangers to big ‘in bloom’ awards - and the seafront accommodation revealed earlier this summer, that it has something even bigger on its hands - which has been described as a ‘natural phenomenon’ by floral experts.<br />The gardens of the hotel which sits on the Esplanade, overlooking South Beach is seeing its agave plant [also known as the death flower] reaching up as far into the sky as the establishment’s gardening team could ever imagine - towering over the sands below, at over 30ft high!<br />The plant [now named Susan} sends up a spike-like stem that will bloom - a natural phenomenon known as the ‘death bloom’. But alas, as is the nature of the plant, and as its nickname suggests, after it flowers, it will begin to die - but hopefully not before putting on a blooming great display!<br />As the agave started to flower over the summer, a lot of hard work over many years has paid off for Simon, who has been providing regular updates on the plant on social media.<br />Simon who picked up another Royal Horticultural Society Wales in Bloom award last year on behalf of the premises, for ‘best hotel with a frontage display’ and again a ‘gold’ award at this year’s Tenby in Bloom contest, previously gave some insight into the history of the plant.<br />“Many years ago we planted a little tiny agave, that was in the 1990s, so it’s got to be nearly 30 years old now,” he said.<br />“Now, it’s absolutely huge. It’s called the death flower, because once it flowers, the plant will die,” explained Simon.<br />
