Remembering our gardens and orchards in Sundargarh.....

I have taken a liking for gardening......though I live in an apartment and have a little patio..

Container garden is my only option.....that suits me fine...

I am a researcher....and gardening is supposed to be my relaxation...

So, how did I developed this passion?...........from my parents and family in Odisha, India...

In our hometown Sundargarh, we had a decent-sized front yard and backyard.......

My father had the wisdom to develop those space into a lush garden, rather than building houses to lease them and earn a few thousands bucks extra......

If I would start mentioning the variety of plants the space had over the years, it will be a lengthy post........

Yet, I  have to, as a respect to the person who gave us so much joys by his decision.......

Mango, papaya, orange, sweet lime, grape fruit, lemon, jujube, date palm, custard apple, litchi, pomegranate, hog-plum, coconut, guava, papaya, grapes, jamun, jackfruit.....also rare fruit plants like rose apple, longan........

It's the hog-plum...

(In the shade of an orange tree...its the day my now-husband, then-boyfriend had come to meet my parents)..
Rose apple....an exotic tree for that climate...

And those fruit plants have multiple varieties too........like seeded, unseeded, sweet, sour etc...

And among vegetables.....pumpkin, bitter gourd, beans, carrot, colocasia, brinjal, amaranth, okra, mint, chilli etc.........some curry leaves tree, moringa, bauhinia, gooseberry tree....

Among flowers, rose, hibiscus, jasmine, night jasmine, plumeria, chenille plant, marigold, cosmos, dahlia, chrysanthemum.....crotons....

(In front of the jasmine...)

Here is a shot of the gorgeous cepals of mussaenda .......blooming in our backyard...

Years of soil erosion, aging of the trees, shadows of the big trees, depleting water level has led to loss of many of these trees....the garden is not in its glory anymore...

Unfortunately, that time was prior to digital camera and phone era....so, not much records are there...

But, the sweet memories are precious...if I start writing it will a novel..I might write one some day..

How can you forget, how people of neighboring villages would come drawn by the spectacular flowers and fruits..... they would ask for raw pomegranates  for diarrhea treatment of their children....community feasts will take bunch of curry leaves...

#Gardening is a pure joy....do plant  a few, if you have got space....more than it time and passion...