A Nursery In Chennai

Being in a new place the idea of visiting a nursery
was so tempting! We headed off to a place that my
sister often passes by, on the way to her friend's
house. The sight of the adeniums was breath-taking!
There were hundreds of them lining the terrace in
colours to die for! Such subtle variations and so
beautiful too!


Rajendra Kumar the man behind it all! A storehouse of
information on all things botanical. It was a pleasure
meeting him and talking to him. When we got there, he was
busy working in the garden and also dealing with customers
who were buying in bulk. I did buy about seven varieties
but he charged me for only about three of them!! Such a kind
gesture because I'm from the other extreme of the country!

Checking out his site on the web later, I learnt that PLR
Gardens ( that name was on his card) is a formidable presence
in Chennai and in the state of Tamil Nadu.




David admiring some of the plants at the nursery.


As you can see from most of the photos the 'soil' looks
different. It's actually coco-dust, a by-product of the
coir industry. The outermost layer of the coconut is processed
for the extraction of fibre which is used in making rugs,
rope, brushes and upholstery stuffing. Between these fibres
is the corky substance known as Coir pith or Coir dust. This
is fast becoming a hydroponic growing medium. Some of the
advantages of using coco-dust are---
High water-holding capacity
Healthy root growth
Larger roots and blooms
Doesn't smell, is bio-degradable and is easily incorporated
into soil
The idea of using this by-product originated in the Far East
and made its way to the Netherlands and Canada. Some websites
have mentioned cocodust as a replacement (in the US) for
rockwool in hydroponic rose production.

Some of the garden features that I liked. I particularly
like the small but attractive water feature. I did see a
solitary water lily but forgot to take a close shot. New
place, new plants....the mind goes haywire!!