He lives in the flat next door to me. He's in his thirties and drives
a bus around Dublin for a living but for several years he studied
horticulture. I mentioned to him that I had tried on several occasions
to grow some kind of plant in my room but always without success.
Even a cactus I had died on me.
So he gave me a pot plant, an evergreen I suppose you could
call it, whose proper name is Sansevieria Trifasciata but is more
commonly knows as mother in laws tongue. As I have no garden
and am stuck in this one roomed flat I need some kind of plant
or green growing thing to help keep me sane and there is something
very therapeutic about a pot plant, indeed just having one in the
room has a calming effect.
But most important of all it thrives on neglect so you can more
or less just ignore it and it will remain healthy. The plant itself
is poisonous, that is if you eat the leaves, and causes a swelling
of the tongue. It was popular with the Victorians.