Monday, June 1, 2015

Home is where heart is... and heart is where garden is..


For me... "Home is where garden is...".

I enjoy majority of my personal time in my garden, either working on it or admiring it. I was raised in city mostly with landscape of sky scrapers painted across the skyline, and having home with space to accommodate a garden was quite challenging Or we would be travelling every year or two to a new place(as my Dad used to serve on Indian Air force), so raising an established garden was never a reality though my Parents loved to own one. Yet, because of my background of belonging to family of farmers, I have inbuilt appetite for nature. My both set of grandparents were farmers and spending time with them was one of the most priced and cherishable moments of my childhood. So admiring nature and helping it grow was there in my blood....

Though I am no way even close to the amount of knowledge my Grandparents or my even Parents have in raising a garden, but I am curious learner. Every time I find out about new species of flaura, or one of my plant is dead or every time my plants are not flowering or fruiting I am curious to learn as to why..

Having a passion is one thing and you having support of your family to grow your passion is different. I love my gardens even more because its done and maintained by me and my family. We have handpicked each and every one of the species of plants you are about to see and planted and maintained it ourselves with no external help. I have learned about each one of my green babies over the years. After raising them for years now I know what their needs are. Though my family at times think that I am crazy and suffer from some kind of Obsessive Gardening Disorder but majority of times they are with me:).

Being raised in Tropical weather I was only aware of tropical plants until I moved to United States. East Coast weather where I have made my home for past 15 years has introduced me to different set of Flaura. Its not easy when almost half of the year your garden is in dormant state and as weather is getting warmer you have no clue which of your darlings are going to make its way and see the light of sun and which of them couldn't survive the harshness of winter. With our kind of weather I am always prepared to see some causalities each winter.

You don't need formal training in horticulture to raise a garden but there are many a times when I wished I had one. When none of my efforts are working or when there are questions I struggle to find answers for. But I have learnt over the years that there is no better way than to nurture your garden with love because they feel you and they respond to your love.

Today I am here to share the garden I raised for almost 9 years.... Garden I have spent my Springs, Summers and Autumns for last 9 years... raising, admiring and cherishing it to the bits. Garden which is very close to my heart!



Starting with some of my garden friends who love to make a visit .. and I love hosting them and having them over...






Roses... All this started on one of the mother's day when my husband decided to plant me a rose garden as a gift for Mother's day instead of buying me roses. Which started with 10 species and now I have at least 100 species of roses in my garden








My Garden Buddha~ Sitting Serene and peaceful.. Always is a pleasant sight in every ambiance and surrounding






Roses creeping off the wall~ My princess desperately wants to reach out for them....






Jasmine ~ My all time favorites..... I have around 5 to 6 different kinds of Jasmines which I acquired from different sources, some propagated and some bought, all of these green babies are very dear to me. I have to bring them inside during winters and their feeding habits change from warm to cold seasons. Most forgiving plants and don't complain if I cannot keep up with their feeding habits. Once spring hits I bring them outside and change the potting soil. It take couple of weeks for them to get out of shock and then they are all ready to bloom and please me... Simply love my Jasmines...






Holly Basil!... Never had luck with this... I propagate them every spring. They come up beautifully and are with me until its time to take them inside for winter. Never survive past winter. Yet I am so determined to do this every year, hopefully I will understand them better some day!


Some more vignettes from my garden...




At last a small peek into my veg garden..


With that...Here I come to the end of this post, post which is very close to my heart, post which I truly enjoyed putting together and post which took me really long to figure out how to capture it all.....and to pick pictures from some Millions I have of my garden. I sure do have love affair with my garden... and nothing gives me more happiness than spending time in my yard. To me its a lifestyle and a state of mind which I enjoy to bits. Today I am immensely happy to share this piece of my heart with my dear readers...

Who follows me regularly here know that I have moved to a new place. So.. I didn't get to spend any time in this garden this year. Though I do go visit it now and then just to make sure that my babies are doing ok.

Now that I have moved on to new place, all this cycle starts all over again. Planning, designing, planting.... I have loved this process always and this time holds no exception.. I am back on my search for plants again.... and determined to create a lovely garden yet again from scratch for myself and my family and will share as new garden starts to take shape.
Hope you liked the post, as always look forward to your feedback and suggestions for my new venture:)

Images Source: All Images are taken by me and are from my home, they are property of Rangkatha. Don't User them without prior permission.


~Prasanna