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A lithographic precision
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Mubin Sultan tells the `plants-to-garden' story of Ranjana
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AND, HE said: "Let the earth bring forth attractive lawns needing a minimum of attention, and borders offering a wealth of flowering shrubs,'' and there came out an eastward Eden. All it took for this beautiful lady to bring up a garden was a little inspiration from her father. S. Ranjana of National Lithoprinters , home-maker and owner of a posh villa on Visalandhra Road in Mogalrajapuram, looks at gardening as a hobby and a learning experience. "We can do justice to a hobby only when we have discharged all our responsibilities and have plenty of time at our disposal,'' she feels with both her daughters married and settled. Ranjana spends most of her time gardening, reading about plants and travelling.
Ranjana doesn't believe in buying things specifically to beautify her garden. She prefers a creative use of available material and has woven a magic landscape with rocks and stones picked off the streets and a few pebbles from the river bank. An exotic profusion of bougainvillea which lie cosy on her compound wall entwine her little bungalow. A rare variety of Spathyphyllum at the entrance gives the impression of a couple of snakes bowing their hoods to greet the visitors.
Zen gardens and Bonsai plants are among her favourites but she finds it difficult to maintain them because of the climate of `Balze'wada. Her new venture is orchids. The sight of the freshly bloomed orchid fills her heart while she is on her morning cup of tea. The proud possessor of a well groomed garden, she has a wide variety of plants including a range of palm, bamboos and Adendum and has almost lost count of the number of species she proudly raises. She loves her patch of Gereberas which are almost 20 years old and bloom every year. An eye-catching sight is the majestic Cycas, a favourite with guests, standing tall and graceful. An ardent fan of ferns, Ranjana's spectacular collection comes from all over the country and her garden has every imaginable shade of green.
"Though not as much easy to manage, the good thing about ferns is that it involves no disappointment unlike the flowering plants,'' she says. She trims her plants regularly and is quite at war with the troublemakers-the termites. She has also been successful in giving the garden a wild look with creepers like, `The Bleeding Heart' in a state of organised chaos. Creative, imaginative and artistic, the garden has an entire community of static creatures like metal grasshoppers, ceramic doves, almost-ready-to-fly cranes, pigeons of clay, little Irish ponds for her lotuses. A committed gardener, the green-fingered Ranjana travels annually to Kadiyam only to get new plants to add to her collection.
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Metro Plus
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