Rising from the ashes... the Serbian Phoenix plant

When the heat of summer manages to kill a favourite plant, despite your best efforts to keep it alive, then you might want to consider sourcing the Serbian Phoenix plant (Ramonda serbica).

This amazing plant is one of the few European representatives of the Gesneriaceae family and is found in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia and Serbia.

It is unique because it can be revived from a completely dehydrated state.

A few drops of water on its crispy, shrivelled leaves and it will come back to life and even bloom.

The flowers are beautiful too, pale blue or lilac and some hybrids have a yellow 'eye'.