Tales of an accidental horticulturalist

YOU know you are getting on in years when it starts to rain outside and you say: ‘Well, it’s good for the garden’.

- ANDY PHILLIPS

It’s one of the clichés I have somehow found myself saying, having developed an interest in plants and gardens.

It started, I think, with a Monstera – aka Swiss Cheese plant – bought from a well-known retailer for a sunny spot in my front room.

Somehow, despite little expertise on my part, apart from remembering to water it occasionally, this green specimen grew rapidly and sprouted new leaves on a regular basis.

Encouraged by the achievement of not having immediately killed it, I was spurred on to buy further plants whenever I saw something that caught my eye.

A Snake Plant was installed on a shelf in the bathroom, and thrived on a diet of sunlight and the steam created from every shower taken.

An Emerald Palm, also known as a ZZ plant, was bought, as it is one of the most resilient species, capable of surviving the most incompetent of horticulturalists.