Garden Diaries : September (Come September)

“For all I can really do is

stand here

in September’s rain

savoring…

soaking it all in

slipping..

and simply

holding on to poetry

for dear life.”

        ― Sanober Khan, Turquoise Silence

September generally brings respite from the wreckage of rains and the news of upcoming winters. But not this time. Intermittent rains continue to bless the garden and usually the weather is warm and humid. Generally, this weather is good for sowing and thus I took my chance with some winter annuals. But then Rains lashed out on the seeds and ruined them. Mistake . Big mistake. Or should I say my impatience which led to this. But I think when you are a gardener you do at times make this mistakes and then you learn from them. So as of now, except from Mums, no other winter annuals yet planted. With some effort lawn grass has improved but much remains to be done.

Colours of Hibiscus

 There is very little colour in the garden except from Hibiscus – my showgirls of this dull season. I have five colours of Hibiscus and all are on bloom right now. They are found everywhere in Asia and are commonly used for various purposes. My mother in law use red hibiscus for Puja and I have tasted Hibiscus tea, which is supposed to be very good to cure/ control various ailments. Portulaca bravely continue to add flowers but frankly it does not charm anyone except our resident red wattle Lapwing.

Portulaca bed and our resident bird 

But then, a garden is much more than just flowers. Even though flowers remain my favorite element in the garden, today I will discuss about other plants. Last year I planted some herbs in my garden and was moderately successful in growing Basil, Thyme, Rosemary, Lemongrass and Carom. At the moment Basil, Lemongrass and Carom are growing like anything and the other two are not doing too well. Though till last month even they were doing fine. I keep on searching new use of these herbs in my kitchen. Mint (pudina) ,tulsi ( holy basil), curry leaves and coriander are anyway staples in any Indian kitchen garden, for our recipes can’t do without them. We are lucky to have Giloy creeper and some Aloe vera plants as well. In winters, I am determined this time to experiment with more herbs. The thing with herbs is that they are useful and it makes growing them even more delight.

Herbs - Carom, Basil , Rosemary and Lemongrass

Other than herbs, there are always some crotons which add to the delight of the garden. Recently a friend and me spent half a weekend discussing how to landscape evergreen crotons and coleuses in shades to add some colours. We have carried some of these plants with us from our previous city. One can count on these and plants like African Grass, Jade, Asparagus densiflorus,snake plant, money plant etc. to remain green and nice, whatever be the weather. That is why these are my choices even for indoor small planters, which I keep in my house as well as in my office room.

Though this month is not the best for garden, in terms of flowers, we already have dragonflies and butterflies doing rounds on remaining cosmoses and other plants. Snails and worms, which end up being dinner for the family of enterprising Hoopoe and Peacock also are in plenty. This year I learnt much about behaviour of the birds with change in weather. It is a pleasure to look for birds after rain has stopped.

I have four scented creepers in my house and at the moment all are on bloom. While Bela, Juhi and Chameli are all white scents , Rangoon creeper (madhumalti) adds colour as well as faint fragrance in the evenings.

I think the rains will finally stop by the end of the month and then the fall cleaning will commence in October. There is so much to look forward to in the days to come.