Last weekend was at Nangargaon, Lonavala. It was an extended weekend. The garden needed fixing, the home had a whole bunch of little things to get right - and the one day breaks was not enough to get anything done.

The earlier gardener had let weeds overrun to such a level that not only could i find little garden snakes all around, but the weeds killed the plants. The tomato died, the mango sapling was murdered, the hibiscus looked as though it was out of a famine struck zone, and there were mosquitoes the size of elephants buzzing around and sucking blood with the glee of a vampire…

The earlier gardener was packed off in the course of our last visit - a month earlier. He was probably the only person who knew less about plants than me — and that is saying something. I took some of the stuff that i had grown on my little window sill, got some other plants from a nursery near by, and the garden was ready to go…

Pink Roses

Red Hibiscus

Twin Shade Hibiscus

white roses
Thankfully they are growing well. I have taken another mango sapling that i had grown in a pot and had it planted. the parijata is blooming; the tulsi is growing;the banana, which was earlier showing signs of dying, seems to have revived … and i went and spent more money on more plants

My colleagues find my joy at a plant flowering very amusing. But, i am a city girl. Have lived in some city or the other all my life. My ancestors left the village some 4 generations ago — and i really don’t have a ‘native village’ as such. so, the sight of something growing on land - as opposed to a pot on the window - makes my heart sing….

Here’s wishing that i could grow this, but it would just attract too many mosquitoes …. maybe if i had a bigger place with a distance between the house and the pond … then,

Tags: Lonavala, Photographs