The typical life expectancy of a plant in my care ranges from 5 weeks to 5 years. Therefore do not entrust me with any rarities. I can even kill Wal-Mart Hippeastrums. It's why I've gravitated towards locally native flora... grown exclusively outdoors. They have the best chance of survival. That being said, I do have a remarkable collection of oddball plants including rare & endangered species like Iliamna remota, Boltonia decurrens, and Silphium brachiatum. They're all from neighboring states, though, so it's not too remarkable that they survive here. The oldest plants in my care are some windowsill cacti about 20 years old. Next are a handful of bearded irises about 15 years old. But out of all the plants I've ever tried growing, my kill:///success/ ratio is strongly skewed towards the killed column. Regarding the security of rare plants in big institutions I'm dismayed when they don't have security cameras. In this age cameras are cheap. Protect your investments! DK in Cincinnati