GardeningInPots
"A weed is but an unloved flower"
The pleasure of growing your own flowers is inexplicable. As
a child, mother had a contingent of four gardeners (Malis) in the tea-gardens
of Assam to grow an array of colourful flowers during the winter season in
India. She had it all in her floral space from Sweet Williams to larkspur, verbenas
and cosmos.
When I was fourteen Dad shifted to the hill station of Shillong where he bought a lovely house with a
small garden. Mother did not have too many helping hands then but she managed a
rambling garden full of pink and white azaleas, hydrangeas, cosmos, petunias
and gerberas. Those days we didn’t have the ubiquitous cell-phone to click
pictures randomly at everything and anything. A pity or else we could have
framed some beautiful gardens for posterity.
Once I got married we always had a garden of our own in the
different places of postings in small “mofussil” towns. But the children and my
profession did not allow me to spend much time in the garden. Flowers were a
plenty and vegetables in abundance but the credit goes to the gardeners who
followed my instructions. They did a wonderful job. I remember Ram” mali”( we
were in Dergaon then , a small town in Upper Assam) who would not let me point
a finger at any flower lest the “evil eye” destroyed it. We had a split level lawn where the taller flowers were grown in the lower lawn and the smaller selection in the upper lawn. Trophies and awards
came in after every flower show. But the
credit was absolutely that of the gardeners. Kudos to them and to their
knowledge of flowers and vegetables.
After 36 years of marital bliss, semi-retired and the
children having flown the nest I now spend a lot of time growing flowers and
herbs in pots. I do it all by myself from scratch. No gardeners!!!! It’s been a trial and error process and I have
much to learn. This is my first year.
1. 2015, 20th November
1.
I selected 80 pots and got them cleaned and
painted. Next I made a mixture of soil and organic manure (cow-dung) and filled
them up.
2.
I gathered my
tools , cleaned and ready.
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| My tools |
2. Bought a watering can for Rs. 200/- at the
Agriculture Exposition in Guwahati, Assam
3.
3. Visited the local nursery and bought the
following saplings.
a)
2dozen petunias
b)
1 dozen verbenas
c)
1 dozen pansies
d)
1 dozen impatiens
e)
And the rest with tomatoes, lettuce, bell
peppers , coriander, chillis and mint
4.
I watered them very lightly the first day and provided shade for two days to
protect them from the hot mid-day sun. From the third day the shades were
removed.
5. After a few days I realized that birds love to chew on
the young leaves, so something had to be done about it. I made a mesh with
thread over the flowers to keep the chirpy featured creatures at bay. You can
use shinny, glittering paper stuck to sticks to scare them away.To my dismay the little
ones were persistent and still managed to nibble at a few leaves.
6. The saplings were planted on the 20th of
Nov.2015. After ten days I tilled the soil with a small spade and added a
spoonful of organic manure. Every two weeks I will be adding a spoonful of
manure for a month.
7. On the 3rd Dec2015, fourteen days after the
saplings were planted there was a strong wind and some rain. I was sure my
plants were damaged. Next morning when I went up to the Terrace I found they
were looking healthier than usual with the sun shining down on them.
8. Every morning and evening, I look forward to watering the
plants. Its theraupatic With plenty of sun-shine on the
terrace ,the saplings look happy. They have grown in 20 days.
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| Tomato |
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| Petunia |
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| Chilli |
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| Pansy |
9. I have divided the plants into
two groups and I plan to manure them every two weeks for a month. The first round has been
done.
10. After a
Month (20th December 2015)
It’s a month now since I planted my saplings. I have added manure twice so far, and water them once
a day. Last week there was a heavy shower on two consecutive days, therefore watering
was not necessary for three days. Just insert your finger in the soil and see
if it is moist. Over-watering is harmful for plants, especially petunias. They
hate cold and wet feet.
11. As you
can see below the lettuce is doing well.
These simple leaves add to the garnishing of a dish . It goes without saying
that they are good for health too.
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| Lettuce |
12. Tilling and weeding is a continuous
process. I love my work on the terrace.
It is necessary to nip the ends of
petunias, verbenas and pansies to get a bushy plant with more flowers. So once
you have 8 to 10 leaves you can nip the end.
13. The versatility of the Mint goes without saying .A pretty
decorative herb, it gives out a beautiful fragrance, good to make chutneys and
can be used to repel flies . After one and half months of growth I had many pots
of mint.
14. 10th January
Today I saw my first Pansy bloom. My happiness knew no bounds. More so because it was
just one day before my son’s birthday. The flowers were manured every two weeks
for one month. Truthfully my soil was not very good, a little sandy; therefore
frequent fertilizing of the plants was necessary. Now onwards,
15. Growing Coriander was a challenge. I had tried growing them once before but
failed. I soaked the seeds in water. Next day, the seeds were split (halved)
and then scattered them in a bowl filled with soil, covering it with cellophane
to get a green-house effect.
After 15 days they sprouted and by the end of
1 1/2 months we could pluck enough to garnish a meal.
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| New sprouts (pic not clear because of cellophene) |
16. The Chilli
plant did not fare as well as I expected. I expect the bell-peppers to do better....keeping
my fingers crossed!!
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| Green Chillis |
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| Verbenas 18. The petunias flower in profusion. They don’t like to be pampered. In fact they grow best in neglect.They come in a riot of colours adding beauty to the landscape. |
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| the pinkies |
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I love the “bloody red” petunias.They remind me of Love, Hope , Vibrancy which I need in abundance at the age of 59.
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19. The varied faced
Pansies provide food for thought. You wonder whether they are happy or sad .They have a mystique to their existence.....my daughter says such beautiful flowers should not be
called “pansies”; on seeing a Pansy my 3year old grand-daughter says"eyes,eyes,nose and mouth", my husband finds them foolish looking...... I adore them, dainty
darlings all in a row.....
20. Impatiens is bright, cheerful and easy to grow. They don’t like too much water. These long lasting seasonals are easy to propagate.
21. Kalanchoes are perennials, tropical, succulent, in many
colours .Like most succulents they are easy to propagate. Truthfully I never looked after them much but
they did well with a little bit of liquid manure. They stand upright like the
sentry guards and live long...adding hues to the garden. This plant is 2 years
old.
This is my first blog on gardening and I hope to continue.More pictures will be posted, more colour, more radiance to add cheer to your life.
There is divinity to every action and so be it for gardening
. As someone had said, Flowers are “sunshine, food and medicine for the soul”
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