Rare flowers bloom after 30 years

The agaves were brought over from Mexico

Two giant agave plants at Glendurgan Gardens near Falmouth have flowered for the first time in nearly 30 years.

The last time the buds on the 8m high flower's spikes bloomed was in 1976, the same year that Glendurgan's head gardener Steve Porter was born.

The stems of the plants are nearly 10ft tall, but the plant will die after blooming for six months.

But they will produce a number of smaller plants which live on to produce more flowers in a few decades' time.

The Fox family, who own the garden, brought the original plants from Mexico to Glendurgan in the 1800s.