Frosted Houseplants and Delicate Weeds

The slimy sprawl of frosted nasturtiums has been consigned to the compost heap and the blackened dahlias need dealing with, but first it is time for houseplant rescue.

I’ve done it again. Every year I make a mental note about bringing the houseplants back in from their summer constitutional in the garden - and some of them even made it - but there are always casualties. To be fair, they are a whole lot more hardy than they are given credit for as long as they are well hardened off – even the Christmas cacti have survived frost – but protracted sub-zero temperatures usually spell the end.

I learned my lesson the hard way in the very cold snap before last Christmas, but, I thought, it would be rude to inflict the same treatment on them twice. Whoops. The resilience of my asparagus fern is impressive, I had bidden farewell to its blackened stump and wished it well on its journey to the botanical Valhalla…and then got distracted and forgot about it. Phoenix-like, it rose from the ashes to endure yet another season of shameful neglect. But I still can’t lift the pot.

On the subject of pot, a few weeks ago I noticed three little cannabis plants growing on a building site. I once read that it is quite common but I have never seen it volunteer before. Suppressing a slightly atavistic urge to dig it up, I left it to see whether the yoof of West Berkshire are as cool as they think they are. Apparently not. And it is frosted now. Bad luck chaps.

Listening to: Rage Against The Machine

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