“This is a Zamioculcas zamiifolia or ZeeZee plant,” the message went. “It needs very little water and so is excellent for the indoors.”
I scrolled rapidly backwards in my schoolmates’ WhatsApp group. There was a photo of a potted foliage plant. Wow, I thought, my friend who posted it knows even the scientific name. Not that I was surprised. This had been going on for some time — ever since the pandemic started as a matter of fact. Every “good morning” message was now accompanied by a new flower or plant in the owner’s garden, sometimes with name and description.
The hitherto dormant green finger gene had woken with a vengeance and my gardener friends are now engaged in creating paradise of colour and fragrance. There was something vaguely competitive in the daily postings, as to who had the greatest variety, the rarest collection, and the most info. Still, it is a great way of getting fresh air and exercise, to say nothing of the peace and satisfaction of growing beautiful things.
This sudden interest in gardening manifested in other developments too. I live close to an area famed for its horticultural nurseries. It was only after I repeatedly got stuck in traffic snarls on my way to work that I began to take notice that both sides of the narrow road were full of plastic pots in every shape and colour, stacked neatly in front of what were previously ordinary houses. I was also struck by the pots in rainbow hues strung in order of size in beautiful patterns resembling birds in flight. Wherever I turned, I was sure to see a board announcing the availability of pots, grow bags, baskets, gardening tools and what not. The number of people turning to the plastic pot business was unbelievable, as almost every other structure was either a “Pot House” or a “Pots 4U”!
These newly created shops were milling with customers, and where did they park their cars? On the roadside, of course! Was it any wonder that the narrow road was jammed with vehicles driven by furiously gesticulating office-goers and others on urgent missions of their own? I was also struck by the number of children who flocked the private nurseries that abounded. Trips to buy new plants and flower pots were now family outings, a chance to get out of the house after days of being cooped up by corona restrictions.
All said and done, I only hope this fad does not add to the world’s burden of unwanted plastic. We were on the way to getting rid of plastic when the pandemic struck and put all the good work to waste. Plastic is making its stealthy way back as is evident from the previously banned thin carry bags now available at fruit and vegetable stores. Plastic pots may have become the goose laying the golden egg for many, but the cost (a plastic pandemic!) is just too high. The old-fashioned earthen pots are much safer. Perhaps that will be my next post in the WhatsApp group.
“Dust thou art and to dust returneth,” I shall say, “and that includes your gardening accessories”!
m_vmenon@yahoo.com
