29 Flower Spikes And Counting

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Melianthus major is a shrub from South Africa, with wonderful glaucous foliage. In fact, I think it’s the best foliage plant we can grow in the UK. I planted this one in 2000, and it has made itself at home in Bracknell since then.

But it does not appreciate our winters. By the end of October, I am putting a dry mulch of fern fronds on the soil under the leaves to protect the roots from hard frosts. Until Christmas, it soldiers on, but as frosts continue to hit through January and into February, the foliage becomes increasingly battered and tatty, and by the beginning of March, I cut it to the ground and it starts again, like an herbaceous perennial. It never flowers; to get the blooms, it needs to carry the top growth through the winter.

But this year is different. In East Berkshire, we only had four ground frosts this winter, and less than ten air frosts. The top growth stayed intact. Then in early April, I noticed an interesting development.

Quickly, its first ever flower began to develop.

Soon it was followed by another and another

Now it’s got 29 flowers spikes

I wonder how many more before it’s finished.

• 28 Apr, 2014
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