SURPRISES IN THE GARDEN

 

 

A garden can throw surprises at any time. It could be a leaf,  flower or a seed. You sometimes miss it even after going over each pot deliberately everyday. It has happened so many times with us.

 

This year many Caladium bulbs sprouted on their own from pots in which they had ‘kind of’ died last season. New seeds and plants were sown in those pots. Out popped a surprise. A beauty which you assumed to have perished came back to life, in its own time.

 

Then at times, for years on end you have a plant which didn’t flower. You did your very best looking after it all the while but still the plant doesn’t oblige. Like our ‘Chirmi’ vine.

 

It is now going out of season because of winter but something hangs on it after it flowered for the first time after four years. It is a cluster of ‘seed pods’. We discovered them accidentally. Pods were so well camouflaged when the vine was green. Once the leaves dried up, those seed pods revealed themselves. Waiting to harvest the seeds.

 

Sometimes, you bought a plant like hibiscus from a nursery. The day you bought it; it had one colour flower. As time went by you realised that there were two plants of different colours in the same pot. You get a bonus and a surprise.

 

Sometimes, flowers turn into seeds when left on the plant. I am talking about seasonal plants like Nasturtiums, Petunia and Portulaca. Last year we had collected enough seeds. Many are in full bloom now.

 

Moment, seeds are collected, one goes into that “fairytale” kind of feeling. One plant gave say fifteen seeds, ten plants would give one-fifty. They will keep multiplying and you keep imagining your garden covered with flowers. It doesn’t happen that way but there is no tax on letting your imagination flow.

 

What has fascinated me the most is the seed pods of the Adenium plant. Long, elongated, pencil shaped seed pods are its signature. I had seen them but did not expect them in our collection so soon.

 

Now, adeniums are on our “garden menu” purchased in May last year. In one plant, seed pods have popped up. This was the latest surprise. You just cannot beat nature. The plant does what it has to do at the right time and in the right season. It knows.

 

As winters are inching forward and temperatures are falling, these plants are slowly stepping into dormancy. Dormancy signs are yellowing and falling leaves. Some plants are still in full bloom but sans a single leaf. I caught a dragonfly on a flower, another surprise.

 

Some adeniums do not shed leaves, unless the temperature drops into single digits. Here, days are quite warm and sunshine is abundant, so the plant is confused whether to go into dormancy or stay normal.

 

This evening, as I was removing dead leaves, my eyes lit up. I have been told that if fallen leaves are left in their pots, they tend to rot. Rotting is a ‘nemesis’ for adeniums because of fungal infections.

 

Without showing any signs of rot, these plants can perish. It sometimes gets too late before you realise what consumed it. It is important to keep the pot clear of all weeds and dried leaves.

 

Watering has to be avoided for the next thirty days. Yes, no watering at all. The plant won’t die. People hang them bare rooted. Once new leaves sprout in Feb, light watering can start.

 

The ‘protrusions’ jutting out of the plant are unmistakably seedpods. This year not a single seed from the pods will be wasted. Another experiment of growing adenium seeds in March is in the offing. One will have to wait for pods to ripen and mature.

 

One has to be careful not to let the pods burst open. When the pods have grown to about six inches plus & show signs of turning from green to khaki, it is time to bind them with rubber bands or thread, which my wife has spared.

 

We have enough spare pots in our kitty. These seeds shall be grown in pure sand with a little sprinkle of leaf and vermicompost. I believe ‘desert sand’ is the best medium to grow the ‘desert rose’ seeds. The results would be known once the seeds are harvested, rested for sometime and sown. Wish us luck.

 

Aim is to grow new plants and graft them with the rare varieties of Adeniums one purchased last season. The overgrown plants will have to be pruned and shaped. The pruned part would be grafted and grown as cuttings. For that, one will have to go by the book.

 

Will the seeds/cuttings/grafts oblige? I wonder!!!!!!!

 

JAI HIND

©® NOEL ELLIS