(From left) Ganesh Hegde, Director Environment Horticulture APD, Sundari Ishwar, Senior Supporter APD, Rajalakshmi Agarwal, Chairperson Ola Foundation, Sanjana Govindan, Board member APD, K.P. Sunil Kumar, Director Fundraising & Communication APD and people with disability during the annual Garden Fair 2023, plants grown & nurtured by a person with disabilities, a Exhibition cum sale, at The Association of People with Disability horticulture training centre at Jeevan Bhima Nagar in Bengaluru on Friday.
DH Photo by B K Janardhan
Bengaluru: At the recent garden fair hosted by the Association of People with Disability (APD), a delightful array of plants greeted visitors, ranging from ornamental to medicinal, and from indoor varieties
to aromatic wonders.
The event, which opened on Friday, is set to run until December 17 at the APD centre in LIC Colony, Jeevan Bhima Nagar. The venue, also home to a Horticulture Training Centre, showcases a diverse collection of plants, all meticulously nurtured by the inmates of the centre and displayed in neat circular and rectangular layouts. As visitors step into the centre, they will be welcomed by a vibrant selection of ornamental and floral plants, placed at the entrance due to their popular demand.
Venturing further, one finds a variety of low-maintenance indoor plants, seasonal varieties, cacti, exotic species, flowers ideal for garden beds, traditional herbal plants, microgreens, and plants packaged in plastic, ready for transplantation.
One section of the fair features packets of vegetable and fruit seeds, conveniently located near gardening essentials like fertilizers and tools, all available for purchase.
The centre's residents have also showcased their skills by displaying handcrafted clay pots and creatively recycled painted bottles, suitable for smaller plants. The proceeds of the sales would go towards training more people with disabilities and running the centre's facilities.
A visitor remarked, "I have shopped at this fair every year but, to be honest, the prices are a little high this time around." One of the staff explained to him that the spread and quality of plants on display this time was "better than ever", and the efforts of the inmates deemed a reasonable increase in prices. Organisers are most likely to host a public workshop on terrace and kitchen gardening.