Death of Basil

While some people celebrate the life of a chilli, I'm getting ready to mourn the death of Basil. No daft foxes or over-stressed hotel owners here, just a simple plant living out his last.

Read moreI doubt he'll make the Doctor's obituary column but if it did, I'm sure he'd mention his birth somewhere in the greenhouse plains of Hungary. After a troubled childhood being moved from shelf to shelf at Tesco's he finally put down roots in an apartment in Budapest.

The rest of his life was a give-and-take affair with his flatmate who after many days of care and attention would demand payment of several leaves in order to make delicious bruschetta. These ordeals took their toll on Basil and his once big, green, healthy leaves gave way to dark, yellowing, runts of foliage.

Basil is not quite dead as a parrot yet but there is only one certain thing in life and that's death.

Oh, and taxes.