MYSURU: Step into the garden of Rafiq Ahmed Mehkri (62) near KR Circle, you will be greeted by a kaleidoscope of exotic blooms and foliages of anthuriums, orchids and caladiums. And you can take a bit of it home too----Rafiq gifts every visitor two saplings, encouraging them to grow trees.
His passion for plants shows when he says, “I love to watch the seeds germinate and grow. It takes more than three years to see a two-inch growth of anthuriums. One needs a lot of patience.”
Rafiq, great-grandson of M D Mehkri, freedom fighter, inherited the flower empire from his grandfather Sri Ameer Mohammed Badruazamn Khan Mehkri, who had a green thumb. The Mehkris’ heritage house is nearly two centuries old and may well be called a ‘green house’: today it boasts of about 800 plants. Successive generations have been adding to the number and tending the plants with love and care.
Rafiq’s interest in plants started in his childhood when he used to accompany his father to the garden and watch him nurture the plants. Little Rafiq used to water the saplings, add manure and also keep the beautiful rose garden weed-free. Gradually his interest in ornamental plants bloomed and he started collecting anthuriums and orchids.
Today, he has more than 40 varieties of caladium plants, around 150 different anthuriums including top varieties; and 80 other species of plants.On an average, Rafiq spends four hours every day to maintain the garden. He checks the growth of every plant thoroughly and adds manure periodically; cleans the pots and garden area, and engages himself in weeding, trimming and other garden works.
Only organic manure is used for the plants. A mixture of cow dung, rain tree leaves, red earth and honge leaves (Indian Beech Tree) are mixed proportionately and left for four months in a pit. This will turn into manure and used for plants.
Rafiq has an exotic collection of anthuriums including Summer glow (Agni Hotri), Red Horizon, Green Cool, Pistachio. His orchid varieties include Phalaenopsis orchid; Vanda orchids; Miltonia orchid; dendrobium, and scented jungle variety.
He takes endless trouble to find different varieties that would bring colour, scent and texture to the garden. “The plants are very expensive and one sapling costs more than `1,000 while a flowering plant pot costs `5,000. Whenever a new variety of plants arrives, I get a message from nurseries in Bengaluru. As the new plants are very expensive, I exchange them with my own collection of plants.”
Rafiq collects the seeds of anthuriums which bear seeds only after four years. He exchanges these too with new varieties of anthurium plants. He says it takes nearly 3 years for the anthuriums to grow just two to three inches tall.
But then not all have his patience or passion. Rafiq says, “While some visitors are happy seeing my garden, some ask why I am wasting time and money. As the house is located in the heart of the city, they suggest I could make a fortune turning it into a commercial space. I think they don’t know the beauty and happiness we get living amidst nature.”
He says: “The joy of witnessing the blooming flowers and nursing them makes me happy. The plants are very delicate and have to be handled with care. I weed out the garden and prune plants periodically. I collect the seeds of anthuriums which are available once every 3 years and sow the seeds.”Rafiq’s advice to all: “People should start growing small plants in their backyards, which will give them a feeling of peace,”