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Up the garden path
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Mangaloreans love their gardens and there is no dearth of nurseries to supply them exotic varieties of plants, writes M. RAGHURAM
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THE COASTAL city of Mangalore has always been beautiful, thanks to the vegetation endemic to the area. Adding more beauty to the green city are the nurseries which offer an amazing variety of plants.
Besides some that are within the city, several nurseries have come up on either sides of National Highway 17, 13, and 48. They offer to the public of Mangalore creepers, climbers, indoor plants, water plants, and even grafted fruit-bearing and flowering trees. Besides flowers such as roses and chrysanthemums, a special attraction in these nurseries are several varieties of local as well as grafted jasmines.
Big gardens
Mangaloreans, of course, have spacious houses and equally spacious gardens that allow them to grow a variety of plans, ranging from chillies to West Indies lilacs. One can see some of the most exotic gardens in Vaz Lane in Falnir, Urva, Ashoknagar, Valencia, Kadri, Shivbagh, Mallikatta, and Chilimbi. One can also see a passion for gardening in surrounding satellite towns such as Surathkal, Ullal, and B.C. Road.
Vaikunta Kamath, one of the gardening contractors in the city, is all smiles as he speaks about the increasing awareness of Mangaloreans about gardening. Though his business, strictly speaking, stops with providing good varieties of plants and planting them where the client specifies, he has an emotional attachment with his job. He is happy that an average Mangalorean is ever so eager to rush to the nearest nursery and bring back a carload of plants and saplings.
Ravichandra, owner of one of the leading nurseries in Kulur, says that most gardening enthusiasts don't mind paying a few extra bucks if the plant is of good quality. There is no dearth of takers for even expensive varieties of grass such as Mexican grass. Laxman Prabhu and Laxmi Prabhu, proud owners of a prize-winning garden in Urva, have a number of anthoriums in different colours. Specially imported from Sri Lanka, each flower is an exotic treat to the eye.
Good business
The nurseries are good business centres, each covering not less than an acre of land. While some deal with all kinds of plants, there are exclusive ones too, dealing with ferns, indoor plants, ornamental bamboo, and so on. Some specially deal with exotic fruit-bearing trees such as Surinam cherries, Malayan green apples, and West Indian blue berries, which do very well in Dakshina Kannada.
Australian farmer
Davie Davidson, an Australian fruit farmer who recently visited Mangalore, told The Hindu that he was astonished at the variety of international plant diversity available in Mangalore.
He had visited Soans Farms at Moodbidri sometime ago and said that it was a "wonderland of plants and trees". He said that anybody who has more than one acre of land can replicate the experiment that Soans brothers have carried out in Moodbidri.
Mr. Davidson has taken some of the local tissue culture varieties of bananas (Kadali) and the Indian red variety Jambu for planting in his country. But he says the Australian Agriculture Ministry is strict about importing plants and that the plants are subjected to tests at the arrival lounge itself, and if found unsuitable to Australian terrain, he might have to go home without them.
Thankfully, with no such rules applicable to Mangaloreans, nursery-keepers in town are merrily stocking more and more exotic species.
The latest rage, for instance, are miniature lotuses which grow in a pot full of water and look simply adorable!
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