She says she has a weakness for plants with fancy leaves but that’s not all there is to her garden. Chhanda Bhattacharya has a quite a collection of cute flowers as well as some fruits and vegetables spread across her terrace, window sills and balcony. Her hobby may not be decades old but she is passionate about plants and forever curious to learn more about them.
I started gardening in 2018 but have had keen interest in plants from long before that. My son goes to Salt Lake School and whenever I would hang out with other moms there outside the school, they would refer to me as the botany teacher!
Now, I have started growing flowers like Duttapriya, Nine o’Clock, Baby Sun Rose and Lonthon Jaba. There’s a Lemon Grass plant from which I pluck leaves to brew tea for my son and myself and a Dragon Fruit plant I am hoping will bear fruit this year. The Capsicum plant reaped a rich harvest too. Recently on the day of Eid, my husband rustled up a tasty mushroom dish with our garden- fresh capsicums.
All said and done, it is leafy varieties that my heart lies in. Like Peacock Ginger, whose leaves open like the magnificent bird’s plumage, Coin Plant, whose leaves are shaped as round as currency coins and Forever Rich, that sports deep green spots on light green-shaded leaves.
The terrace is too hot for plants like the Coleus now so I’ve brought them down to my balcony. Here too I have potted and hanging plants like Bleeding Heart, Snake Plant, Jade Plant, Spider Plant and Wandering Jew. There’s a Table Kamini that I am tempted to trim to resemble a football!
In the four corners of the terrace, I’ve planted Pyrostegia Venusta that has orange flowers, Jasmine that has white ones, Nilmoni Lata that has blue blowers and Rabbit Ears that, again, has orange blooms. I want to connect these overhead in a way that they form a colourful canopy over the plants underneath.
One of the best things about gardening is that it inspires others. I have gifted two of my neighbours Mother of Thousands and Dwarf Snake Plants and am delighted to see them take an interest in the hobby now.
As told to Brinda Sarkar