Mukta Khairas crotons

Crotons… plants you can crow about
21 Sep, 2001 l 0109 hrs IST

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this being the right time to multiply crotons, we focus our attention on this decorative tropical plant which is prized for its multi-coloured foliage. termed by garden enthusiasts as one of the best houseplants, crotons are sturdy growers in average home condi-tions, making it very popu-lar with plant lovers. the fo-liage is thick, glossy and splotched with brilliant yel-low, orange, green, and scarlet. in fact, it is the fo-liage which gives it so many varieties. some of the most common ones are the corkscrew croton, the tri-lobed variety and the broad-leaved croton. these sturdy coloured greens need average pot-ting mixture. you can buy the potting soil readymade from the nursery. though the material for potting mixture may be bought separately and mixed at home, it’s a messy job! crotons prefer sun exposure but can stand shade too. it’s important to keep it evenly moist and not sodden. you can also increase humidity by occasionally sprinkling or spraying warm water. crotons need a routine amount of fertiliser. propagation is done from cuttings. now it’s the right time to multiply crotons by air layering which means getting a plant to produce roots on a grow-ing stalk as this is best suited to woody or sturdy-stemmed plants. you can even exchange new croton vari-eties with friends and relatives. simply expose the soft tissues of the plant just below a leaf joint by scraping away a ring of outer tissue or cutting a notch in the stem one-third through, slanted up-wards, and inserting a piece of moss to prevent the cut from growing to-gether again. wrap a clump of wet moss around the bared wood to keep it moist. here in the accom-panying picture you can see gardener shyamlal practising air layering on one of mukta khaira’s ten varieties of crotons. garden enthusiast khaira, is busy multiplying crotons at her sector 8 house. she advis-es that one should wait for a fortnight for the roots to come out. you’ll get to know that the cutting is ready when the moss will be filled with roots. well, that’s the time to cut off the new plant below the ball of roots dis-turbing root mass as little as possible. these new plants will need some more growth before the plant can be pot-ted. you have to protect new plants as you would any young plants: keep them out of the sun and give them ex-tra humidity until they are firmly rooted. indu_saksena@indiatimes.com

Mukta Khairas Home

Thursday, February 5, 2004, Chandigarh, India CHANDIGARH INDEX

C H A N D I G A R H S T O R I E S

EDUCATION Home Decor A traditional home with modern touch Ruchika M. Khanna A home having the essence of rustic India without losing touch with contemporary modern style. That's the Khaira house in Sector 8, which has traditional interiors in contemporary architecture. Built on a two-kanal plot, covering an area of almost 5000 sq foot, the two- storey house is a homogenous combination of traditional and modern styles. Says Ms Mukta Khaira, lady of the house,“we did not want to loose touch with our roots and at the same time wanted to keep the convenience and aesthetic factor in mind while building and doing up the house.” And she has succeeded in her mission. The house has a modern aspect (facade) with arched windows, bay windows overlooking the rear garden and an unconventional colour combination of earthy brown and white. Even the inside of the house has modern leanings — a double-height lobby, with the staircase winding its way up the first floor, an open kitchen, and a verandah at the back. To create the green house effect, an array of ornamental greens have been placed and two sides of the verandah are covered with glass walls. From Baster antiques to phulkaris used as wall panels and a marble mantelpiece running along an entire wall in the drawing room to Tanjore paintings, Khairas love for the traditional artifacts is reflected in the house. So is their love for flowers and candles. Crystal vases with flowers adorn almost all rooms, besides crystal and metal candle stands in varying shapes and sizes. Beautiful patra paintings, where the artist has made figurines on old patras, adorn walls of the drawing room. Jharokha mirrors in traditional frames, mostly rustic Rajasthani and Punjabi designs, have been used in all rooms to reflect light and create emphasis at a particular corner. The beauty of the house is that space, light or ventilation, all three elements, have been aptly considered in its designing. The open kitchen in the house is a perfect example of this. By doing away with the wall between the dining area and the kitchen and replacing it with a counter or by utilising the wall of a narrow gallery for making a storage almirah for dry ingredients, the three elements have been properly made use of. The floor, though made of mosaic tiles, has been left without a carpet in most rooms, adding to the space. “In fact, the house was earlier rented out to the Haryana Government as a minister's bungalow and the rooms were very small. When we bought the house, we had to make a lot of changes to ensure that all elements were included in perfect harmony,” informs Col Manjit Singh Khaira. Colours used in the upholstery, drapes or walls of the drawing room are neutral, ensuring that numerous wall paintings, antiques and crystal ware stand out. The bedrooms, too, have been done in soft colours, with bright wall panels or the linen offering contrast. Also, bright valances have been used in all rooms over soft drapes to add colour.

Mukta Khairas Daffodils

Thursday, February 22, 2001,
Chandigarh, India

C H A N D I G A R H S T O R I E S

Vibrant daffodils smile
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 21 — March brings breezes sharp and shrill, shakes the dancing daffodils —

How and where to grow When ready for growth, choose a well-drained, sunny place. Hillsides and raised beds are the best. Drainage is the key. Spade at least 12 inches deep and improve your clay with well-rotted compost, soil amendment or planting mix and raise the bed. Slightly acidic soil is the best. Plant the daffodils so that their top (pointed end) is at least two times as deep as the bulb is high. Plant bulbs deeper in sandy soil than in clay. Daffodils need lots of water while they are growing (but if being grown in dry hot climate, they should be meagerly watered). Even during the period of growth, wash the bulbs thoroughly and let them dry completely (at least a week, out of the sun). Put them in onion sacks and hang them in the coolest place you can find until November. Good air circulation will keep storage rot at a minimum.

The pleasure of watching this flower of the hills grow in your small backyard would indeed be great, and especially so if you have been nurturing the plant for a good five months. For Mrs Mukta Khaira, a Sector 8 resident who brought the bulbs when she returned from California in September, February 8 was a day of double celebration. One, her daffodil variety Angel’s Whisper bloomed after five months of sleeping, and two they bloomed on the day her grandson was born.

When this reporter went to her place to watch the colourful delight, Mrs Khaira talked about how the flowers had taken so long to bloom. “When I first planted the bulbs, there were no signs of growth till December. I thought they were dead, but slow watering helped and the first signs of flowering appeared in the first week of January,” she said.

On February 8, there were two flowers. Then four more. And after some more days there were 30. Apart from daffodils, Mrs Khaira also has iris and hyacinths in her garden. As for daffodils — even after they grew, securing them was not an easy job for her. As the flower cannot tolerate even a slight rise in temperature, the pots had to be shifted to shaded areas everyday. Now, however, they have started withering.

While the daffodil is essentially a low temperature flower, here is some information for those who want to grow them. The best source is the Northern California Daffodil Society which holds daffodil shows in March. You can write for their catalogues to them in late March or April and order and pay for the bulbs in April or May. Entire information on growing this flower is available at www.daffodil.org.

All about daffodils

* They are at least 25 species, some with a great many different forms and several natural hybrids. In addition to this, the Daffodil Data Bank lists 13,000 hybrids.

* Bulbs are priced from around $ 1 up to $ 100, depending on the newness or scarcity of a cultivator.

* Under good growing conditions, the daffodils should outlast any of us. Daffodils multiply in two ways: asexual cloning (bulb division) where exact copies of the flower will result, and sexually (from seed) where new, different flowers will result

* Flowering season of the flower is between six weeks to six months depending on where you live.

* Daffodils will grow in shade of deciduous trees because they have finished flowering by then and the foliage has begun to mature by the time deciduous trees leaf out.

More information about daffodils can be had from www.daffodil.org.