Updates from Mumbai

I’m still in Mumbai and in my absence, my friend Utiyama-san has sent me photos of the cuttings that he’s looking after for me. I’m thrilled to find that all of them have grown rapidly, some with flowers already! Thank you so much, Utiyama-san.

Here’s a photo showing Coleus cuttings that have grown up wonderfully well. These are probably the easiest to propagate. Just cut off a branch with a few leaves from a fully grown Coleus plant and plunk it into a pot with potting mix. It starts rooting immediately and you have a new plant.

My wife and daughter too seem to have been paying heed to my instructions to water the plants.  They have sent some photos to me, and I’m happy to see that most of the plants and cuttings that I had placed in pots are growing well. Can’t say much about the weeds though that have seem to have taken over most of my small garden, but hey, I have learned to be happy with what I get! 🙂

 

Coleus from cuttings

Here’s a photo of Gold Crest that have rooted from cuttings – they seem to be alive and well although growth seems to be quite slow. I presume that they’ll grow faster next spring.  When fully grown they assume a Christmas-tree shape and I intend to plant them  at the entrance of the house welcoming visitors. I planted these cuttings last spring – they certainly take their time to grow!

I’m thrilled to see rose cuttings develop into plants. I had taken these cuttings from roses presented to my daughter by a friend and also by Utiyama-san to me. Click here to see the photo:  Roses.  So we have no idea about the color of the rose that will appear; makes the surprise all the more delightful. The same with the Rose of Sharon cuttings: there are are two varieties – a pure pink and a crimson at center with white variety. Utiyama-san wants the latter; but the rooted cuttings have similar leaves. I guess he’ll have to wait until they appear!                                                                                 Gold Crest from cuttings

Rose of Sharon, Rose and Abutilon

Propagating plants are really a lot of fun; it is a wonderful feeling to grow these from scratch rather than buy them from the nursery.

Here’s a different photo of cuttings that look like either peach or hydrangea. The tag that I had inserted seems to be missing unfortunately. The Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow plant also seems to have grown – this plant will add to the fragrance in my garden from next spring onward!

 

Peach or hydrangea, rose, Yesterday, today and tomorrow, blueberry, abutilon – all rooted from cuttings

Here are some verdant scenes from my garden in Japan:

Okhra in the foreground, red geranium in a separate bed in the back

 

 Lush growth of sweet potato at center (the surf boards in the back belong to neighbor)

While in Mumbai, I am enjoying the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables that I don’t find in Japan (they are mostly frozen fruits except during a small period of time in summer in Kisarazu). The papayas and the sapotas fresh from the market are delicious and I have these with many other fruits every day!

  Papaya – costs about 25 rupees (50 yen/0.5 us$)       Cut into two halves – about 3-4 seeds

 

Papaya peeled and diced along with Sapota – deeeelicious!

I think I could live on fresh fruits and vegetables only while in India!

 

To end this post, here is a photo of geraniums propagated from cuttings together with Plumeria that are presently being cared for by Utiyama-san.

From left to right – Red and white geraniums, Plumeria, Pink geraniums

Until the next post, happy gardening!

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