Gardening has been my passion ever since I was a little child. Gardening has been an integral part of who I am, take my garden away from me and I'd probably lose my sanity. The garden is my place of happiness, peace, prayer, meditation and problem solving. I've always wanted my garden to be green, with sparks of colors and full of life.
It's not just vegetables that I want to fill my garden with, I want my garden to be my explorers paradise. I love to collect plants the way people collect coins or antiques. This is a less expensive hobby and I enjoy it. I'd rather spend my pennies on buying plants rather than spending it on dead urns, fancy containers and attractive garden ornaments. Experimenting with newer and lesser known plants in my region may not always yield great results but I always learn more about plants from my experiments even if the results aren't much to write about on Hive. 'Operate in fear and you'll grow nothing' has been my philosophy.
Right now there isn't much happening in my garden and yet a lot happens whether I will it or not. There some bright flowers blooming there like the pelargoniums (geraniums) I bought recently, limes and tomatoes which add zing to my meals, cacti and succulents changing colors and blooming bright and importantly live itself which happens here right before my eyes.
My garden is about colors be it cacti and succulents, flowers and fruits or leaves. Color is what makes my eyes pop, my mind dance, my senses tingle and my emotions brim with positivity. Shapes too have a way of winding their way into my heart, textures make me itch with longing to touch and feel what lies before me. What appeals to senses stimulate my mind as well. Most of my problems are solved in the garden, my ideas, creativity are birthed here.
While rain has been playing truant for most part of this year, water scarcity has been traumatizing us gardeners, yet life doesn't stop. We learn problem solving skills and work more smartly with the resources we have at hand. Every drop of rainwater has been collected and fed to the plants.
This plant chains of glory aka Clerodendrum Smithianum or lightbulb plant has been struggling for years tin my garden. No matter where I move it, or how much I water it out or feed it with nutrients nothing has worked, Yet this year I collected all the drying leaves which dropped due to the water shortage (there was quite a bit) and made leaf compost with it and decided to re-pot this beauty in layers of leaf compost and see the magic it has wrought. These flowers dance like chandlers in the cool morning breeze, float like butterflies at noon and shine like light bulbs at night. When life gives you leaves compost them is one of the things I've learnt this year.
My lime plant has been producing like crazy all through this year. This is a small branch of my lime bonsai, the plant which has begotten all my other limes plants I have in my garden and in some of my friends gardens. The magic has been made possible from the waste of the meals we have eaten. Every time we ate chicken the bones were washed, collected in a container and kept in the fridge. When I had enough I cooked them in the pressure cooker for ten minutes and pulverized them in the blender. At first I was worried that this would harm the blades, but the bones are quite soft and become fine power in a couple of minutes. This blazing Indian sun dried this paste in a few hours. This powder has helped my flowering plants and fruit trees to produce more. Never waste precious time cursing the heat, make good use of it.
Life which happens in the garden and gives me an opportunity to study it closely. Watching this potter wasp (Phimenes flavopictus) butterflies and other life forms here has made my time in the garden even more enjoyable. I have been recording the nesting nature of this wasp, I notice that there is very little information on the internet about this kind of Asian wasp and I will contribute my two pence to that small fund of knowledge.
Episcias are one species of plants which have never lived longer than a month in my garden. Now, I am finally understanding their needs and conditions for growth and I have had some success with them. Begonias too especially the Rex begonias haven't survived for long in my hands now, I am learning to find the right spots for them in my garden and helping them adapt to our kind of conditions.
My garden has been my laboratory, my encyclopedia, my text books of life. I learn each day. I have come to believe there is so such thing as an experienced gardener, no matter how experienced we are our successes have taken root in our failures. Our knowledge has been rooted and grounded in our tears, pains and our inability to replicate what we did once before in the garden.
Life is not about replicating success to achieve more success, it is about learning from each step in the process and to take success and failures in our stride. Growth ends in the cycle of death and death begins the cycle of life. You cannot have one without the other. Life is simple, take everything in your stride and growth happens naturally.
A seasoned gardener is one who learns, adapts, willingly subjects himself or herself to the conditions around and still finds ways of overcoming the difficulties they pose. Giving up is not the answer. We move on with a cheerful countenance and wisdom acquired from what could have been sometime heart wrenching events.
This year I have leaned a lot from my garden and I am so grateful for this. Water or no water life goes on. My plants, my life!
Thank you for your time and your support all through this fading year. I truly appreciate this very much.