There is some truly extraordinary horticulture around the world, with some incredible plants that boggle the mind. It is estimated that there are 400,000 different species of plants across the globe.
With such insatiable variety, it’s no wonder there are so many avid gardeners around today. But which are the best? With every plant, there must be the biggest? A tallest? An oldest? We have picked out some of the most impressive plants from all over the place, which will undoubtedly amaze you!
The World’s Tallest Marigold
The tallest marigold plant in the world is located in Ohio, US. Incredibly it stands at over 3 metres tall, which is simply remarkable considering that the average marigold usually reaches around 1.5 metres. This amazing accomplishment is down to the hard work of 12-year-old Rebecca Shanks, who simply said she just kept on ‘growing’ it.
Tallest Tomato Plant in the World
The UK can be proud of this achievement, growing the largest ever tomato plant. It was so big, that the team managing it had to use scaffolding to reach the top. Grown in Lancashire, by Nutriculture UK, their plant stood at a phenomenal 65ft (19.8m).
World’s Heaviest Potato
Another title awarded to the UK. Peter Glazebrook takes home this accolade after managing to grow a massive 4.98kg potato. It wasn’t Peter’s first world record, however, having previously held the title for growing the world’s largest carrot!
Longest Carrot In The World
Joe Atherton has quite remarkably broken his own record when it comes to carrot growing. The Lancashire man beat his own world record of 5.841m in September 2016, when he grew one even bigger, coming in at an incredible 6.245m.
Heaviest Tomato On Record
Although the tallest tomato plant was grown in the UK, the award for the heaviest tomato is claimed by the US. Weighing almost 4 kg, it was estimated that it could be split into 22 different portions of food for people. It was grown by Dan Sutherland, in Walla Walla, Washington, and was authenticated by the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth organisation.
Fastest Growing Plant
Although 0.0002mph might not seem like much, when you consider that it takes weeks for some plants to grow, it’s practically light speed. The record belongs to certain species of the 45 Genera of bamboo, which have been found to grow at up to 91cm per day, that’s almost a metre!
The RHS Dictionary of Gardening estimates that there are 1,000 species of bamboo, with the tallest in the tropics reported at 40m. The tallest in Europe only managed to reach 25-30m.
Slowest Growing Plant
A complete opposite to the Genera bamboo, the slowest growing plant is a title which belongs to the incredibly rare Puya Raimondii. The species is only found in certain corners of the globe and was discovered in the Bolivian mountains.
The flower cluster develops over an 80-150 year-long lifespan. Unfortunately, once blossomed, this beautiful flower soon after dies. One was planted by the University of California’s Botanical Garden, Berkeley, and began to blossom after just 28 years. However, there was some discretion given as it wasn’t growing in its natural habitat.
World’s Oldest Tree
There have been many claims for the title of ‘World’s Oldest tree’ with ancient bits of woodwork popping up across California and Asia over a number of years. Recently the title went to an old Norwegian Spruce named ‘Old Tjikko.’ Astonishingly this tree is estimated to be 9,500 years old. Determined by Professor Leif Kullman, who used carbon-14 dating to find out that the tree had been caught in an ice age, which helped preserve it for thousands of years.
World’s Deadliest Plant
This tiny little plant, the Rosary Pea is supposedly 100 times more deadly than ricin. Containing a toxin called Abrin, it is, without doubt, the most dangerous plant known to man.
Despite the immense danger which surrounds the little beans, they are commonly used as decoration for bracelets or necklaces and are even used inside maracas. Even though they pose a huge danger, they have been swallowed, with people living to tell the tale.
If swallowed whole, they will usually pass straight through the digestive system without causing too much trouble because of their tougher shell coating.
Although there are plenty more which could have been added, this is our pick of the bunch. These incredible plants show us the amazing feats nature is capable of.
These feats are ones which you can even try and emulate in your own garden. You can grow your own plants, either in garden beds or a greenhouse if you want your plants to receive extra heat regulation and weather resistance.
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