Garden entrepreneurs in the city

Gardening in the big city is quite a challenge in more ways than one would think.

For one, there are not many good garden centres around. Land is at a premium, so a few common, indoor plants which've already proven their sale-worthiness are crammed into tiny spaces that a cat would turn its nose up at.

And, even in the rare garden centre which can spread itself around, not many people have the luxury of time to go and potter around to pick and choose their heart's desire.

So what does the ingenious Mumbai-wallah do ? Why, he plonks a few plants on a push-cart and roams the streets with them, tempting the harried housewife with some outrageously colourful hibiscus, luring the lonely paying-guest with cheerful gerberas.

And then there are tulsi plants for maa-ji and roses to add colour. Thujas and ficus to add a touch of green to highlight the whole picture.

If the chef in you is lucky, there may be a couple of chilli plants, the odd tomato seedling and, who knows, maybe even some veggie seeds !

Oh yes, there are often a couple of pots on a shelf between the wheels and some good garden soil to fill them up. Just about everything that the push-cart entrepreneur thinks that you could possibly need to get those green fingers going and growing.