A hub of medicinal & culinary herbs

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 4

Her garden seems like a paradise reclaimed. When it comes to adorning it, Rashmi Johri, a retired professor, has relied on choicest indigenous and exotic plants. Replete with several DIY and organic materials, beautiful hanging vines drape the walls of her balcony —much to a visitor’s delight.

An array of ornamental beauties such as dwarf devil’s backbone, monstera, areca palm, snake plant, jade, purple heart, singonium, diffenbechia (also called Dumb Cane or Mother In law’s Tongue), dracaena, coleus, purple coleus, patthar chatta, thuja (a conifer plant of the Cypress family), Bamboo Plam, umbrella palm, kochia (Mexican fireweed) are stacked together in her backyard.

A variety of roses roses, Champa (magnolia Champaca), Chameli (common Jasmine), Sunflower, Lily, Chandi (or crepe Jasmine) and Haarshingar (Night Jasmine). medicinal plants and herbs like haldi (turmeric), ashwagandha, lemon grass, oregano, aloe vera, methi (Fenugreek), Tulsi, Niazbo (sweet Basil), Curry leaves, Shankhpushpi (speed wheel or aloe weed), giloye add freshness to her kitchen garden. Not just this, even veggies like bottle gourd, snake gourd, bitter gourd, guava, mango, sweet potato, brinjals, taro root (or Arbi), spinach and Chillies are found in plenty.

Offered assistance by her daughter and her husband, however, she does most of the planting, grafting, composting herself.

There are over 200 plants in her home garden. Upcycled plastics, wrappers, sturdy sacks, containers, old buckets and bins are widely used as planters. Up for creating a responsible carbon footprint, she is a believer neither in wastage nor in squandering her money over overpriced planters when reclaimed material can do the job much better. Foliage of all shapes and sizes

Rashmi Johri says, “I pick up whatever I find and plant something in it. In the back we have composting units - card boards and home waste collected in drums which render the soil fertile. Regular supply of coco peat also comes in handy. I love spending time with them and it keeps me clam and happy.”

Containers are hardly ever discarded as each one becomes a home for her brand new plant.

Her lobby, gates, windows and aisles are full of old bottles re-patterned and painted to fashion a ganesha, used bottles with strings tied to them hang from the house gate. A lush gourd wine flanked with flowers on both sides welcomes a visitor to her home. It is a delight to watch plants of all varieties swaying joyfully in her garden.