Chrysanthemums: An update

I had earlier written about how we had bought three chrysanthemum plants from the nearby plant nursery and the Sunday market.We intentionally bought three different colored varieties, a white, yellow and purple, with the hope of adding some colors to the garden when their blooming season arrives. The yellow one died sometime back in December. We suspect December's harsh cold climate at nights were to blame, if that is even possible in our part of the country. But yeah, it was colder than usual this winter. 

The real twist in the tale is that the one we bought as white variety turned out to be actually yellow and the purple variety looks like pale white when it is fully bloomed. So the gist is, we haven't obtained the aimed result in adding different colors with our chrysanthemums, but boy we ended up with loads of beautiful flowers during their first season at home.

Well, as the saying goes, pictures speak better than words.

Going green! Having fun!

These sure make lovely ingredients for a 'Green' Meal..

A big bowl full of Mint and few chillies to make chutney...

Drumsticks that are available at a yard's distance to make Sambar..

A bowl of tomatoes fresh for Rasam!

All from the garden. Going green! Having fun!

Bitter is our new favourite

I have heard that the plants that belong to the 'guard' families start producing soon. This turns out to be quite true. The bitter guard saplings that were transplanted in the first week of February have shown good progress and started producing too.

The saplings on 2nd February. The potting soil used was a mixture of red soil,sand and compost.

Below picture shows my amateur attempt at providing a trellis for the plants. The trellis was made with an used wire-rope which was cut into three pieces and inserted deep into the soil nearby each plant. The top portion of the pieces were then tied together. Though very simple to construct,it has proven to be very effective for the plants' growth.

During the flowering stage.

The fruits forming after hand pollination. Sadly the bees are not that many around here to rely on natural pollination.


Harvest done on 19th Mar 2015. I thought that this was very early of the plants to start producing fruits but later discovered that this is in the nature of the guard variety climbers.


Another mention in favor of Bitter guards is that the plants are seldom attacked by any pests. Maybe due to its strong flavor I guess.This is the very first harvest that we have done without tackling aphids,mealy bugs, ants or other such things that bother the health of the plants. Surely, this is one cool climber to grow.