in the shade of palms

The cutting was taken at 4am on the Friday. It travelled south in a resealable plastic bag, which was in turn placed inside a thin plastic box to prevent crushing. There were things to do en-route, and it stayed there until it went into a glass of tap water at a hotel near Heathrow around 7 in the evening. (it came out of the bag looking very fresh, but wilted badly during the night – I thought it was a goner).

Back into the plastic at seven the next morning, where it stayed until that 7 night when it was again put into a glass of water, this time North African bottled water, for we are now in the Maghrib. The lower leaves were half discoloured, a kind of purple.

After 24 hours, the topmost leaves were clearly reviving. The water’s changed daily. On the Monday night the first tiny root was visible at the point where it came away from the mother plant. The only concern is that an inch up the stem from the base there’s a dark patch, where it would appear it’s been bent back – It’s hoped this won’t stop the new roots communicating with the upper parts of the plant…