Pause to wonder

In our new monthly column on gardening, we tell you about the most important skill a nature-lover ought to cultivate.

When the lockdown happened in March this year, our world shrunk to four walls. We were confined to our homes, juggling between mounting chores and work. Our living room morphed into an office, a classroom and a play area. While the internet was our virtual window to stay connected with work and family, the freshly dusted windows of our homes opened to a vibrant scene.

Copper pods, gulmohar, amaltas, pongamia and other flowers were setting the sky ablaze with a riot of colours. Cities that were noisy with vehicles were now teeming with the songs of birds. A pollution-free air uncovered the mountains. The sky sparkled a fresh blue. It was like nature had used a sharpening tool to brighten the world. People identified sunbirds, bulbuls, mynahs, sparrows and barbets in their neighbourhoods. Even the ubiquitous crow got noticed. Regardless of the lockdown and people at home, the pigeons continued to lay eggs in flower pots. As a poet once said, people had finally found the time to stand and stare.

A storehouse of fascination

And that’s exactly what a nature lover ought to do. The most important skill he should possess is observation. Observation informs us, and many a time, surprises us. And you don’t have to look too far. For instance, there are a pair of raintrees in my neighbourhood, which are themselves a storehouse of fascinating stories.

They sport pink powder-puff flowers in summer and are also called the five O’clock tree, for they close their leaves at sunset. In the winter months of December and January, they shed their leaves. When the spring season begins, fresh foliage starts to sprout. Flowers and seed pods seem to appear simultaneously. Parakeets flock to eat the ripened pods, competing with the squirrels that devour them.

If the flowers had just bloomed, where then did the seedpods appear from? I pondered. I was baffled. The resolution of this mystery was more interesting than I had thought.

The flowers that bloomed the previous year, became seed pods eight months later! So, I was looking at fresh flowers, but the seed pods were from the flowers of the previous year. What a marvel of nature!

Raintree tales

Another quality of the raintree is its sensitivity to rain and the way it closes its leaves. This allows rain to flow effortlessly down the crown and reach the ground. The day after, the leaves open up, preventing sunlight from reaching the ground. This, in turn, slows down the moisture evaporation, making the area beneath the canopy cool. For this reason, it is a preferred tree in parks, avenues and school grounds.

Nature around us is forever trying to heal with its greenery. All that we need to learn is to slow down a bit and immerse in its serenity. A walk in the park under the cover of trees relieves the pressures and tension of daily life. In the 1980s, the Japanese started a practice called Shinrin-Yoku, which meant ‘Forest-Bathing.’

We may not have access to a forest, but it is not difficult to bathe our homes in some greenery. All it takes is a few plants to convert a dull corner into a colourful one. It can be herbs that you might want for the kitchen, a few succulents on the window sill, house plants to add some jazz to the living room or vines that will sport colourful flowers in the balcony. The right type of plants and flowers will invite bees and birds too. The songs of nature will surround you. This is the simplest way to practice Shinrin-Yoku.

Gardening is a peaceful activity that helps us relax. Once we get accustomed to it and start spending time with our green friends, the quality of our life will improve. With this column, we hope to encourage you to grow a garden. People shy away from it, thinking it is too difficult, a chore and an onerous responsibility. It is not. Instead, you will find it to be a joyous experience that heals the body as well as the soul.

In the coming months, we will talk more about plants and flowers. But, the first skill to learn is to observe. A good place to begin is your neighbourhood. Do you have raintrees too?

Motley Garden is your monthly pot-pourri of observations and lessons from gardening and nature.

The author is a botanical artist from Bengaluru. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram as @neelavanam