The beauty of plants and shrubs growing in the wild is incomparable. This is what plant lover Sweetie Kariappa swears by. And this lady from Kodagu takes extreme effort to grow a miniature colony of bamboo shoots, allowing them to grow as what resembles a family.

“Trying to allow the shoots grow in a manner identical to that in a wild, natural setting is no small task,” says Sweetie. “This is the fruit of six months of labour. It gives me satisfaction to see that each shoot has room to grow on its own.”

Sweetie’s garden also accommodates guava and lime trees and many plants in the citrus family. She nurtures the small shoots separately in pots, later puts them all together and allows their roots to link onto one another as would be the case if they were growing in a forest.

Sweetie also has a range of her creations at Srinidhi Residency, service apartments at Basavanagar, of which she happens to be the co-ordinator. “It pains me to see malnourished plants. I have a tendency to stop my car and adjust a creeper that might be growing on a random pole or wire on the road.” Sweetie also has a collection of creepers in her front yard and terrace garden, along with temple trees and hibiscus plants which tower at 35 feet! She takes time out to make exotic arrangements of flowers, picked right out from her garden. She refuses any kind of remuneration. “All I ask for is your love, affection and kindness towards greenery,” she says.