By Victoria Plum 
By Victoria Plum
The weather has been so wet and inhospitable that I have barely seen my garden for months. But there are always surprises somewhere.
In my conservatory, plants are flowering, such as a Crassula ovata “Blue Haze” (protect from frost it says on the label), which I bought from RHS Hampton Court Flower Show, where I went by coach on a very hot day about four years ago.
I won’t do that again: the coach park was a good 20-minute fast walk from the entrance. The elderly and ailing people, trudging back to the coach carrying their bags of booty, desperate to get themselves home, was a sight to behold.
The Crassula was small and when it refused to grow at home – it just didn’t move – I investigated and found that the roots, such as they were, were constrained by one of those little bags, a bit like a fat teabag that growers use to aid growth and handling of tiny plants.
The bag was just too hard and made a barrier so that the roots could not break through. So, I cut it away to free up the roots and allow them to make the most of my delicious compost, which they did.
This is the first time it has flowered, and it really is a pretty plant with beautiful undulating leaves and delicate flowers.
I have another Crassula (nameless), which has sent up long stems and also produced pretty flowers, and an Aloe with a great big flower bud getting ready to burst.
This week’s Reepham & District Gardening Club meeting was enjoyed by a good number of members, despite the weather being extremely cold.
Chris Bell spoke on climate change and explained how global warming would affect us.
Next month on Tuesday 21 February we expect to learn about “The Wonderful Medlar”, so join us in the Town Hall, Church Street, Reepham, from 7.30 pm, with tea, coffee and cake and biscuits, and a chat afterwards.
Pictured above: Crassula ovata “Blue Haze”. Below: Aloe arborescens with a flower bud growing about half a centimetre a day. Photos: Tina Sutton
Geoff Fisher