The light summer breeze in the evening, carrying the heady fragrance of newly flowering jasmine, as the flowers stand starkly white against the dark green leaves. The wind fluttering
the branches of bougainvillea, popping with bright fuschia, a mellow yellow, and sunset orange, not a leaf to be seen in this sea of color. The champa sprouting new shiny leaves, getting ready to treat us to the bunches of flowers it will give all summer. The birds as they swirl and swoop, in and out, chirping and sharing their happy stories, the turquoise blue shining on their black body, the smaller green ones stopping by to have their last fill of nectar from inside the orange and yellow trumpet vine flowers.
The juhi creeper climbing places, the yellow allamanda opening, the easter lilies showing red and white, the roses in yellow, orange, red and white, some flowering in bunches, the others commanding respect with their bearing, their changing shades, the button roses flowering twenty at a time. The multitudes of petunia, the flocks, nasturtium and pansy, the sweet peas and the freezia looking on, as their life cycle ends, and another begins. In the midst, the serenity of the vegetable patch also has new life, the creeping vines of cucumber stretching out amongst tall brinjal plants. The tomato leaves with their strong minty smell, the flat large leaves of the pumpkin, the small yellow flowers all around, a couple of lady finger plants starting out. The karela vine spreading out its thinnest tendrils and holding on to everything to grow faster. Just another evening at my little terrace garden.
Yes, little is what it is, and people who have seen it, would vouch for it. And bare, is what it was four years ago. What started as keeping a few spare plants from the balcony on the terrace, is now a place to be, mornings and evenings, to sneak in for a coffee break, morning tea or a sundowner with spice (spouse) and candlelight.
It started as a spare place to plant and store empty pots, and then cleaning, organizing and maintaining the space. My first experiment was with the small round brinjal plants, in singular pots. The very first time we planted, saw it flower and give fruit, gave so much happiness and confidence, that we tried with tomato seeds next. In the meanwhile, the bathrooms were getting spruced up, and I had two bath tubs, ready to be thrown out, I decided to keep them on the terrace, and planted a few seeds of tori(sponge gourd) and karela (bitter gourd) in them. These were all easy first vegetables to plant – based on my knowledge of having seen my mum work on her little terrace garden.
Soon, covid struck, and now the morning and evening walks of the entire family happened on the terrace. People came. People saw. People spoke. More bouquets. Less brickbats. My terrace with a few bougainvillea, a couple of madhu malti, the indoor areca palms getting some airing and ten brinjal plants had a very receptive and appreciative audience! And flowers of the vegetable plants were appreciated and admired. All this was a great push for me to take action and to experiment further. For me, it is still ‘work-in-progress’ and always will be.
Read Article “Tips and Tricks for Terrace Gardening” to know more…
