CHENNAI: Amrita Pradhan used to watch her father, an avid gardener, planting “all sorts of vegetables, flowering plants and shrubs”. He would be up early every morning to check on the garden and water it. When she was 10 years old, she started to share his interest.
She says she is partial to flowering plants, particularly to raise and Jeremiah plants. “I plant all kinds of roses, they are easy to maintain and add such beauty to the garden,” she says. She feels a kinship to them. “I can be tough and beautiful at the same time, like roses. Tough to people who could hurt me and beautiful to those who try to help me through a difficult time,” she says.
Her favourite plant is the money plant though. “Keeping it in the house is said to be good for health and prosperity and it can also be used as a decoration,” says Amrita. “I love Tulsi for the very same reason... It has religious value and can be medicinal, if taken daily.”
She says that she would never have sunflowers in her garden. “They take a lot of space and they look rather huge and untidy,” she says. “I am like miniature plants... Sunflowers are high maintenance, they don’t fit into my busy schedule.”
But she knows it pays to wait in gardening. “The primary lesson I learnt from this is that you have to be very patient throughout the gardening process,” she says. This is an attitude that you have to extend to the plants. “You have to give a lot of care and be devoted to your plants, just like you would if you were caring for a newborn baby,” she says. This was one of the traits she has learnt from her father.
Her father is her only reference and guide. “All of my knowledge till date is through my father,” she says, adding that all her lessons have come from watching him in his garden every morning.
Tips
● Patience is the key to successful gardening. It is not done in minutes or hours.
● Keep your mind and body calm while you are at it.