Greenspiration 2

Greenspiration 1 here.

A couple of weeks back, I visited Varthur area in Bangalore, which has a string of really good nurseries along the road. It was precisely at the time I was feeling really greenspired as some of my consistent efforts (if you can call watering plants that) had just begun to show some results.

I had been looking for a bougainvillea plant. I love these thorny, earthy trees. I get an immense joy out of the many colors that bloom out of this thorny tree. So we set out on mission bougainvillea and I ended up buying six other plants.

The nursery was spread out upto one km inside its gate and there was a dizzying variety of flowering plants, cacti, shrubs, indoor plants and what not. Mera bas chalta to mein sarehi utha lati. The owner was a darling old man who spoke only kannada. So we communicated with signs and excessive expressions (on my part). The plants were all unbelievably inexpensive. When I  checked with my mum, she told me that those were the normal prices, and the smaller nurseries within the city just overcharge. No wonder then that the tiny nursery in Indiaranagar charged so much more. But anyway, no price is too much for plants I guess.

This is the bougainvillea nicely settled in the corner that had just enough space after the washing machine went there.

My precious find

The three other plants were what I had gotten earlier.

First house plants

Then these lovely flowering plants. I have some kind of bee visitors every morning now. 🙂

After repotting

I transplanted my basil seedlings into a rectangular tray, and they started growing miraculously well. I have now figured out that basil and mint grow together in one pot much better than growing a single cutting in a separate pot.

The 3 month old seedlings

My mint is growing crazy, and I have repotted some cuttings. I plan to keep multipying the mint by taking sturdy cuttings and replanting them in smaller pots, and giving them away as gifts. same goes for basil.

The cause of my gratefulness

Here’s my chili. I am amazed and grateful. I had just randomly thrown in some seeds after seeding an organic chili. Yay! These are organic chili plants. cute, huh?

Mirchi

A colleague had given me her plants when she left the company. Our company apparently gives away saplings once every year. This is my first year, so I am waiting excitedly to find out what’s the theme this year. Last year it was indoor plants, and before that, medicinal plants. So, though the indoor plants she gave me looked great on my desk, they were in serious need of transplanting. They were too big for their paper cup holders, and the roots had started rotting. So I’ve replanted them in bigger pots, and given the creeper some support. It was almost falling off. Here it is gracing my living room.

Survivors

And a couple more pics just because I have them.

I think it grows about two inches a day

They share birthdays

I hope these keep growing. I already have more basil and mint than I need. I can’t believe how generous these plants are. I plan to stick a note outside my home in a few weeks for neighbors to come and take some herbs whenever they need them.

Herb section