ALAPPUZHA: Siji S was travelling on the NH-66, which was undergoing reconstruction at the time, when he spotted an uprooted bougainvillea on the roadside at Pathirapally near Alappuzha. He brought it to his home at Punnittassery in Cherthala’s Kanjikuzhy panchayat, grafted it and planted it.
The incident, which took place two years ago, lit in him a passion to graft plants of various colours. Now, the employee of Legal Metrology Department has a garden full of bougainvilleas, of different hues all blooming on the same plants – a visual treat for whoever visits. Some have 10 multiple-coloured flowers in a single plant and are finding many takers.
Recalling the two-year-old incident, Siji said, “The land of Udaya Studio, a landmark of Pathirapally, had been acquired for NH development. While passing by, I saw a huge bougainvillea uprooted and lying abandoned on the roadside. I decided to cut a big piece of wood and planted the flower at my house. Within a month, buds grew from it. I later grafted flowers of other colours on the wood. In two months, new buds sprouted and in four months, they started flowering.”
Later, he procured four varieties of bougainvillea from different places and grafted them. “The buds sprouted in four months. It was an attractive sight. I started collecting different colours of bougainvilleas,” Siji said.
He said many people had planted bougainvilleas along NH-66 four or five decades ago. “Most of the plants were uprooted to make space for NH development. The one I took is around 80-years-old,” Siji said.
Siji also imported more varieties from the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia. “Importing a plant having a different colour pattern costs around `50,000. Now, all my grafted plants have sprouted. One plant has more than 10 different colours. They attract a large number of people. There is huge demand for them. Currently, there are around 500 plants in my garden,” Siji said. His wife Shyama manages the nursery at the house.
“Multi-coloured bougainvillea plants that are 7-feet-high will fetch over `1.5 lakh. A variety of hybrid plants are being developed in countries like Thailand and the Philippines. Bringing them here is extremely difficult. Many people are selling hybrid varieties in the northeast and I buy them from there,” Siji said.