Bargain of the year!

A miserable day today - cold and wet. I haven't been off the property and not very much within it either!

I've been spending time on photographs again, looking through pictures for our next competition. I'll be sending the images off to the judge on Thursday, the day after our next meeting. I've had a moan before about our competitions in the Club this year. For the first time ever we have no subjects - all the competitions are Open. What has happened so far is that those members who go on exotic holidays come back with amazing pictures which far outweigh most of what we do at home. 'Market Day in Uzbekistan' looks a lot more exotic than 'Market Day in Oban'! I know that the location is irrelevant, but certain pictures certainly catch the judge's eye more than others! I think also that instead of going out to take pictures of the subject, for example 'Street performers', we, or at least I just hunt through my collection to find something to enter, regardless of what it is! Makes me lazy, I suppose! 

Anyway, time will tell. In the meantime I've been hunting for Blip ideas and decided on this plant which I bought a few days ago. I know that a bargain is only a bargain if it's something you want, but this must be the bargain of all time. It was originally priced in Homebase at £25, then reduced to £12.50, then to £4.50 and finally to £1.50, when I bought it. There were several of them but this was the last. 

It's name history is almost as long as its price history! It was simply labelled Mangave, which suggests it might be grown in a man cave! Apparently the first one was a deliberate hybrid between a species of Manfreda and one of Agave, both succulents from Texas and New Mexico, and was known as 'x mangave'. Later on some bright spark decided that all Manfreda species should be included in Agave, so that the new name was invalid as the plant was no longer an intergeneric hybrid.  I think that they should all be known as Agave hybrids, but I can't find anything to support that. So my plant is simply and incorrectly named Mangave, and I don't know and probably won't be able to find out the cultivar name. I suppose it's one up on 'Green plant'!  It's a plant suited to dry climates, so should be very much at home in Argyll!!

Quote of the day:

“Buying something you do not need is a waste of money, even if it is a bargain.”
Mokokoma Mokhonoana.