Iron Maiden: back from the dead

Maidenhair ferns are fussy and anyone who's ever had one knows it's hard to keep the darn things alive.

I usually get my plants free by swapping with friends and family, so paying for this one hurt. Still it was a lush (at the time) specimen and I was given advice before I even hopped on the bus to bring it home from the garden centre.

Sitting at the bus stop, two elderly ladies told me 1) they'd never had any luck growing them, and 2) it's best not to water them much, just leave them alone. Then the bus arrived and before I bought my ticket, the driver said, "I'll give you two bits of advice: don't let it get dry and don't water it too much."

Still I was quietly confident. I had the perfect position: a steamy bathroom under a frosted skylight and I planned to water it once a week. Then I realised the hanging pot didn't have a saucer (darn!), so I found an old spray bottle and spritzed it every day.

It was all working perfectly (and I admit I was probably feeling a little too smug), until I went away for a couple of days and returned to find the leaves still green but curling up ever so slightly. I kept spritzing but to no avail. My maidenhair fern turned up its heels.

Fortunately, Sage came up with a solution. Soak it in a bucket of cold water for a few hours or overnight. Let it dry out a bit and hang it up. (I debated whether to cut off the old foliage, but a botanist once told me that the plant can use them as food if you leave them there.) Anyway, as you can see, my iron maiden is back from the dead. Phew. – Pru

PS I have since killed the fern again, but this time I cut off the dead foliage and it still resprouted.