Another visit to Rare Plant Research (with the Outlaw)

To avoid the choke point with the crowds at the entry, and of course to put an eye on the bromeliads, I always start at the very last greenhouse and then work my way to the front.
And I always take this photo, because cannas in a group are impressive.
As are opuntia...
Hmmm, speaking of (opuntia) I've got a spot in the garden for a nice spiky version!
Agave montana (I believe, although they still aren't signed as such)
Eucomis comosa, maybe 'Sparkling Burgundy'
Of course I had to go peek at what was "behind the curtain" in the off-limits area.
Didierea trollii

Echium in a greenhouse
Echium outside

Kniphofia
Sad looking Platycerium bifurcatum 'Netherlands'.
Blooming Sarracenia x catesbaei.
Remember this little segment as I'll have a story for you at the end of this post.
Agave ovatifolia! I was hoping to find them here again this year. These are the 3 gallon offerings ($45) but there were also 1 gallon ($19.50).
Spikes and shells, an unexpected combination anywhere but here at RPR. 
Peter and I walked up to the house and garden of the owner Burl, and his wife. It's an interesting area to survey, and pass the time, while the line to pay down at the nursery thins out. Those bromeliads do not spend the winter there in the rocks, lots of plants around the home winter-over in the greenhouses. 


Alcantarea imperialis 

This photo doesn't accurately convey just how large these sarracenia were.
Inside the home's conservatory.

And across just one of several man-made (Burl-made) ponds.
Another, looking back at the house.
And down at the nursery area, thru the winery's vines (Villa Catalana Cellars is another of Burl's endeavors).
So there's our haul (mine is toward the bottom of the photo; the purple bromeliad, the spiky opuntia and a pair of Agave ovatifolia). Peter is replacing the evil cylindropuntia he'd previously decided against. 
I admit to pushing him to buy it, it was such a beautiful plant. During the trip home a segment (like the abandoned one I photographed above, in the plant pot) broke off and attached itself to the rubber floormat in the back of my car. While Peter was loading his plants into his car I tried to pry it free (with a knife) so he could take it home. I ended up getting it—via at least seven of its long white spines with barbs—stuck in my fingers. The weight of the plant segment meant every move pulled on them and the pain increased. Thankfully Andrew was home and cut the spines free from the plant and then pulled out from my fingers. Fun times with spikes!