Last week I learned about the Rose of Jericho from an installation by Martin Kim Luge at the Universität der Künste. Today I stumbled across a crate full of them in front of a tea shop that caught me eye. The very knowledgeable tea expert who owns the store had prepared an information sheet for the plants. I took a sheet home with me. Also one small brown plant in a small brown cardboard box.
This is what I have read: the Rose of Jericho appears to be dried up and dead, but is actually in dormancy – its response to drought. When it contacts water, it grows green and fragrant. For this reason, it is honored as a holy plant: the hand of Mary.
Now I will water my plant and see for myself.
