Moving is not for the faint of heart or back.

In addition to muscles and flexible logistics, a talent for improvisation is also required, for example when every ceiling requires different dowels, a shelf breaks out, the Swedish furniture store supplies all the screws for the kitchen island but only a part of the goods ordered, or a "nose" for the washing machine is missing.

The list could go on forever, and wrapping fragile objects also makes you want to get rid of superfluous possessions - one cup and plate should be enough per person, why all the glasses, vases, bowls?

Of printed books anyway, they are so heavy you have to carry them.

Man suffers, plants starve if they survive.

Sonya Kastilan

Editor in the "Science" department of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper.

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Unfortunately, my poinsettia, which I had cherished for years, didn't make it, its water rations were apparently not enough recently;

the smallest of the two remaining orchids stayed outside one winter night, by mistake, and is now being nursed on fresh substrate;

the polypody wandered from the kitchen ledge into the cool bathroom, which will hopefully soon make me forget the drought stress I suffered, which the Strelitzias don't take offense to, it seems.

At least they were always protected from the cold, and I could safely do without blister foil wraps or balls of newspaper in tall boxes with air holes, as recommended by experts: For them, the journey in the van – upright and safely stowed between furniture – only went across the city, not by truck across the country.

The end of balconies, or: A place in the morning sun

However, one plant on my balcony proved to be remarkably tough - and I didn't have the heart to part with it as easily as with other junk or leave it behind.

Neither rose, lavender, nor hydrangea, which now have to adjust to their new south-east orientation and have a chance of a spot in the morning sun, would probably brave the noise, rubber abrasion and exhaust fumes of a four-lane road as long as this plant, which up to before Recently actually bloomed.

And so far I have no idea what it is.

A wild growth that settled where snapdragons once shone brightly like a sundowner in orange, before their color faded over the next few generations, increasingly fading and only rarely showing up in bright yellow or orange.

At first I thought of that weed as

Arabidopsis

, favorite of geneticists, but the leaves don't match, so I'll wait for the next bloom to identify it;

my old botany book will be in one of the boxes by then.

But that's not the only mystery: in the garden of the new apartment there are four shrubs, of which I only remember the butterfly bush,

Buddleja davidii

, recognize as such: A figwort plant that originally comes from Asia, was introduced to Europe as an ornamental plant in the 19th century and can now often be found along railway tracks and fallow properties, so it is a fairly undemanding garden refugee.

The invasive species is not welcome everywhere, I, on the other hand, look forward to the scent - and insects as visitors, the tits are already there.

Fragrant or armed with thorns

I'm also curious what color the flowers will be, whether a washed-out purple, white or purple.

The other three tall plants are still bare in winter, but one is forming promising buds.

Right next to it is one with long thorns, almost like an African umbrella acacia.

With a giraffe as a pet, however, the garden would be full to the brim.