Friday 8th March 2024 - Plant Histories, Another Accident on the Promenade and Videoing

Another interesting speaker this month at the Overstrand Gardening Club.  Andrew Sankey illuminated us, on how the majority of the plants in our gardens reached the UK.  So surprising to learn that after the last Ice Age, which covered part of Norfolk, you could have written down the number of native species growing on our island on a piece of A4 paper.  Easy to conclude from this, pretty well all the plants in our gardens originate from other parts of the globe.  Invaders brought some with them, no thanks here to the Romans who introduced the extremely invasive ground elder.  Monks imported herbs and originally most plants fulfilled either a medicinal function or they were edible.  It wasn’t until Henry VIII’s time that we started to see ornamental gardens and after this plant explorers collected seeds and plants from various parts of the world.  It was Japan and China who were the last to open their ‘doors’ to plant collectors.  Those who dared to venture into these countries, prior to being welcome, were often never seen again.  When the meeting finished, I walked to the Garden Centre where they currently have a BOGOF offer on a selection of perennials and other plants, plus alpines for just £1.  Restricted by what I could carry, I purchased two perennials and three alpines.  I’m not sure where these five plants originated from but they are most welcome to join the others in our garden, adding some additional colour and interest.

We have heard, three more villagers have slipped on the promenade.  Apologies, if this is not entirely correct but I am only repeating here what we have been told.  They slipped in the area where the cliff has fallen below the Sea Marge.  (This was the area that was barricaded off and then re-opened this week.  The barricades have been moved back to encompass the fallen material but there is still mud seeping onto the promenade.)  One of the three was suspected of having broken their arm.  Please, please be careful if you are walking on the promenade; we don’t want to hear of any more accidents.

One thing, I keep forgetting to mention, is recording videos when we are out walking and then posting these on YouTube.  I had intentions of filming the rough winter seas with waves crashing over the promenade but I’d completely forgotten how cold my fingers get.  Despite wearing gloves with liners, I have a job feeling my fingertips during the winter and early spring months, so operating the camcorder would not be possible.  However, now things are warming up, I am hoping to do some recording.  First, I will need to refresh my memory on the camcorder’s operation as well as the editing software. 

Today’s photo is of camellia blooms, on the last of our three bushes to flower.  This is definitely not a British native.  To quote from Wikipedia, they come from ‘eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia.’