Plant to love (sort of) within a very long time (4,4)
I believe the answer is:
aloe vera
'plant' is the definition.
(Aloe vera is an example)
'love sort of within a very long time' is the wordplay.
'sort of' is an anagram indicator.
'within' indicates putting letters inside.
'very long time' becomes 'era' (I've seen this before).
'love' with letters rearranged gives 'loev'.
'a'+'era'='aera'
'loev' inserted into 'aera' is 'ALOE VERA'.
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for aloe vera that I've seen before include "Plant with juice used for treating burns" , "Cosmetic substance" , "cosmetic preparation" , "Mediterranean plant whose thick leaves give off a soothing juice" , "Something soothing" .)