Glory of the Grotto

I returned to my friend's garden this morning to continue trying to decide which shrubs to take out, so many having grown together and spoilt each other. It's a good example of failing to check on plant sizes before planting, or maybe thinking only in the short term. The previous owner of the house planted many shrubs and trees and I suspect he was getting on in life and not thinking 50 years ahead! People will be saying the same thing about my garden one day - maybe I should explain my failure to think ahead in a message on the back of the garage door!

 I remember my Mum telling me the story of a young man asking his lady friend the name of a plant in her glasshouse and being told 'Mind your own Business'! He was most put out apparently, until she explained that it was the common name of the plant! 

MYOB is an nearly hardy creeping plant, once described by botanist Linnaeus as 'Mere weeds, found on old walls and stony ground, they have no beauty and are of the easiest culture”. Where it's suited it can be quite invasive - it was commonly used in the past to cover stones and other features in grottos and around fountains. I knew it in my youth as Helxine  soleirolii, but it's now Soleirolia soleirolii, just to be awkward!

In October 2019 we had a week in a seafront cottage in Gorram Haven, in Cornwall, and this Mediterranean plant was growing in profusion among the rocks just above the beach. I grabbed a chunk and put it in this tray when I got home. It lost all its foliage last winter, but has grown back strongly. Now I have to find a spot for it where it won't take over the world!

My extra today is the beautiful and almost hardy Geranium palmatum, from the Canary islands, which has seeded itself on my deck steps.