Today we’re heading all the way to India to visit with Atoorva, who works as a civil servant for the government of India and gets transferred to a different city every three to four years. Atoorva currently lives in Jaipur, where the summers are hot, the winters are mild, and most of the rain falls in the summer monsoon season.
Two and a half years ago when I came to Jaipur, the pink city of India, and learnt that my new house has a garden, I was thrilled. After living in apartments for years, here was my chance to do real gardening and go back to my gardening genes—inherited from my parents. The garden did not disappoint me despite the summer temperature rising to 48°C (118°F) and the soil being largely desert sand. In the summer months, we had giant sunflowers and zinnias all around, and rains brought enchanting waterlilies and rain lilies.
An abundance of petunias (Petunia hybrid, annual). The most beautiful season in the garden in India is winter. Winter is mild in this part of the world, and most annuals—from marigolds to petunias to pansies to calendulas—bloom during November to March.
An Indian kingfisher. The garden is located near Jhalana Bird Sanctuary, and therefore the branches are always full of bulbuls, rufous treepies, grey hornbills, black-rumped flame back, hoopoes, parakeets, and kingfishers. An occasional sighting of migratory winter birds can brighten up the day.
Jaipur has a sizable peacock population, and my garden has a resident family of them. These birds often find a home on the huge mango tree, which is the most prominent part of the garden. While there are a couple of gooseberry trees, neem trees, and a golden shower tree, the mango tree remains a favorite with birds—even more so when it is full of mangoes.
One of my first experiments in this garden was to make eight small water planters to accommodate the waterlilies. Within a few months, with the arrival of summer, waterlilies were blooming in these planters, surrounded by portulaca on the ground nearby.
In winter the garden is full of flowers, such as cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus, annual) and marigolds (Tagetes patula, annual).
My pride as a gardener last winter was the medley of colors around a decorative stone fountain. This display included dianthus, verbena, daisies, pansies, and even a red geranium. The chaos of colors was somehow beautiful to my eyes.
In the early months of the year, tall smiling larkspurs attract plenty of sunbirds, and these purple beauties swaying together in the spring breeze is a sight to behold.
A diversity of marigolds (Tagetes, annual). This winter, I am going to plant freesia, chinkerichee and ixia for the first time. The decision was partly due to the lockdown effect, which made availability of the usual seedlings very limited in local plant stores, and so I decided to try these bulbs. At the moment the garden is full of marigolds—orange, red, yellow, and my favorite, vanilla.
The garden has its moods in every season, and even in the harshest days of summer it is a peaceful refuge to birds and other creatures. In many ways, it is they who own the garden, and we are just the tenants, lucky enough to enjoy it for a short while.
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Comments
So beautiful! I can’t imagine gardening in 100 plus degrees. You have certainly met the challenge. Thanks for sharing.
Wonderful to see gardening from another part of the world. I must admit to some jealousy at the birds that find their home there. The fountain is gorgeous and your garden around it an inspiration. When our weather hits the 90s, I must admit to being inside, I can't begin to imagine 118...
Delightful! Love your colorful fountain area & your birds! Thanks for sharing!
Love to see gardens from other parts of the world. Thanks for sharing.
Atoorva - I enjoyed reading your gardening story and looking at the vibrant photos. I especially liked the pink cosmos with the orange marigolds - plus the beautiful teal of the Indian Kingfisher.
I appreciate your contribution to the blog!
What a great idea to sink those eight pots for the water lilies around the fountain with other flowers!
Enjoyed seeding the full garden photo of the fountain, and the garden chairs and the spacious peaceful green grass and all around the privacy hedge!
I tend to clutter things up in my garden- so I really enjoyed seeing this peaceful calm space.
And of course I love the chipmunk photo!
Ooops a "Freudian slip"...I meant "Enjoyed seeing" not "Enjoyed seeding" LOL!
Atoorva, thank you so much for sharing your photos of your bright, happy gardens. Such wonderful colors, and such an eye for how to best display them! Your gardening genes are running STRONG! And congrats on taking an alternative course when the lockdown prevented your normal choices from being available. Great ingenuity!
Very Nice
Love the fountain and I bet those beautiful birds do too. So happy for you to have a place with a yard now. Gardeners everywhere are fortunate to have a garden. Especially this year. Alice
Gorgeous riot of colors and the kingfisher is spectacular! Thank you so much for sharing this delightful garden.
What gorgeous colors! You have created a beautiful garden in your 2 1/2 years there. I especially appreciate your final thoughts about who actually owns the garden space and the photos of all the creatures in yours. Thank you for sharing!
It was so lovely to see your photos! I especially loved all of the birds! Thank you so much for sharing ❤️❤️❤️
Atroova, your garden is a delight! Loved all the flowers, and birds, in your winter garden. Here further north we strive for some winter colour. Thank you for sharing.
I love the vivid colors you have chosen for your garden areas. They are so perfect for a hot sunny place where pastel colors would just pale out in the bright light.
Maybe you could engineer a second couple of years in this same place and add some perennials to the mix. Seems a shame to have to leave that wonderful garden space that you fill with such wonderful combinations of flowers.
Wonderful! Appreciate you sharing your garden and birds with us!
So lovely! Thanks for sharing!
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