ALIEN Cinderellas the flower show forgot to invite!

But they didn't seem too bothered - they were Lal Bag's most gorgeous cactus and  the succulents, who stayed home like the mean witch kept away from Sleeping beauty's birthday party, in their very own Cactus House, away from the hubbub. The Cactus House is even more stunning than the one in Kew Gardens of London, which is really saying something!

These floral enchanters make up their very own batty dresses made of stars, clusters, bows, ties, hair bands and plaits and buns! Some even have the cheek to resemble chocolate muffins, and silver coins, as if they have their very own tailors and dressmakers from an alien planet. Once you have been wooed by these stone crop blue-green, bronze, purple and violet stunners, you will be hopelessly under their spell and no one can rescue you. I should know, because I have been bewitched.

The succulents which can also breed orange, grey and gold and silver flowers with names like Africa Hats, Owl's Eyes and Tiger's Jaws, will amaze your garden's hanging baskets with their batty, odd ball stylish invasion! As if they have landed from a mad boutique their mottled skins clad with weird and wondrous dresses of brown, khakhi, dark purple and often purple! They seem to be showing off teeth, claws, warts and pink baby toes in their designs.

They look like denim roses wearing thorny, thick coats. And under all that mischievous enchantment is a healing power. Last month I cut my finger badly in the garden and bled horridly. I cut open the leaf of an aloe, also a succulent, and used the gel from it to cover the cut. I bandaged it and within three days, the cut was healed. I was hooked for life.

You will be instantly wooed by these winsome flower show neglected alien winners who actually don't seem to care about the slight! After all, it is more our loss than theirs! The one I have learnt to grow in my garden is the sedum which looks just like a lock of Rapunzel's hair that grows and grows and grows, to form entrancing plaits of silver-blue green. These bizarre beauties, millions of them, each more weird  than the other, seems to be clearly telling us that everything in the world is wondrous, winsome and magic-tinted. They also wear their thorns and needles proudly and openly unlike us humans - we hide ours behind sly smiles and slick words.