A senior nursery owner once confided to me that most customers in India
look for flower plants and that too fragrant ones rather than only foliage plants.
After
planting two renowned plants which do bloom sometime, but they are not known
for their flowers. We therefore look for plants which bloom for most part of
the year.
In
this post I shall introduce to two plants which are certainly not exclusive, nonetheless
they bloom for most part of the year and easy to grow. Though they are known by
various names, the popular names are 1.Chandani and 2. Sadafuli.
As
you look at the following pictures you will show signs of recognizing them.
|
|
These plants can be grown directly in ground or in pot. The
chandani, if planted in ground can grow to a height of about 3 meter.
If planted in a pot, it should be periodically pruned.
Sadafuli is called Vinca
Madagaskar can be grown as a
ground cover for a cottage garden or can be grown in a pot. Its flowers colour
range from white to pink to dark purple.
Both plants belong to the same Apocynaceae
Family and have similar site
characteristics or planting requirements like soil, sun light and watering
and hence can be planted in a single pot to make a
potpourri. The chandani should be kept
in the centre and sadafuli be around
chandani. Careful pruning can produce a
beautiful medley.
 |
| Potpourri |
Now we shall see a
little bit horticulture for each of both
plants in what follows.
Called the pinwheel flower, crape jasmine or East India rosebay, Moonbeam, Carnation of India, Chandni,Chandini ,Chameli, Tagar, Nandeevriksha, Khsirika,Ksheeri, Vishnupriya,Nandiar vattai (Tamil), Sagar (Gujarati), Ananta (Marathi)
Its botanical name is Tabernaemontana divaricata. Tabernaemontana is a genus of about 100 species of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae.
Kingdom: Plantae, Division: Magnoliophyta, Class:Magnoliopsida
Order: Gentianales. Family:Apocynaceae,Genus:Tabernaemontana
Species:coronaria,
It’s the flowers and foliage that grabs the attention,
and because the stem releases a milky latext when snapped, it is also called
the Milk Flower.
It is an evergreen shrub much branched shrub native
to India and cultivated across South East Asia.
Like many members of the Apocynaceae family,
stems exude a milky latex when broken. The large shiny leaves are deep green
and are 6 or more inches in length and about 2 inches in width. Flowers white
fragrant, in axillary or terminal cymes Fruits follicles, ribbed and curved,
orange or bright red colored; seeds dull brown, enclosed in the pulpy aril.
Crape jasmine blooms in spring but flowers appear sporadically all year. The
waxy blossoms are white five-petaled pinwheels that are borne in small clusters
on the stem tips. Flowers are commonly used in pooja in north India.
In ayurveda medicines it is used for dental caries, as cough medicine headache, skin diseases, bleeding disorder, itching, arthritis. and for eye burning sensation. . Buds kept in clean water overnight may be used as a good eye wash. By mixing, the Petals of Chandni and Gulab (Rosa indica) flowers in equal proportion you can prepare special combination, and use it in treatment of hypotension successfully. Many healers use the petals of Kusum (Carthamus tinctorius) for the same purpose. In treating of all kinds of arthritis it is beneficial to make the cleaning of lymph system with the help of Licorice herb (Glycyrrhiza)
It’s a plant that requires full to partial sunlight, any soil, moist environments, but not waterlogged roots as it will then breed pests.. Propagation by cutting is easy especially in monsoon.
Pest like aphids eat away the leaves. To protect by spraying the liquid made from boiling neem oil, tobacco leaves and soap.
Sadafuli means ever blooming is a garden hit with its glossy green foliage and dainty 5-petaled flowers which bloom throughout the year in shades of pink and white and violet. annual flower for part shade. With botanical name Catharanthus roseus, commonly known as the Madagascar periwinkle, rose periwinkle, or rosy periwinkle, is a species of flowering plant in the dogbane family Apocynaceae. It is a source of invaluable alkaloids for cancer treatment drug
Madagascar Periwinkle shortly called Vinca is native to Madagascar and India. The species was transported throughout the tropics long before there was interest in the plant’s landscape potential. It escaped cultivation and naturalized around the equator. A diversity of cultures, from Madagascar to Jamaica to the Philippines, have a history of using it in folk medicines and especially for treating people with diabetes. It is also known to be poisonous to livestock if ingested in large quantities.
 |
| Vinca Multi colours |
Vinca Roseus goes by its common name "sadabahar" or "sadaphuli" (perennially flowering) in parts of Western India is genus of Apocynaceae . In English, Catharanthus (Madagascar Periwinkle) is a genus of eight species of herbaceous perennial plants, seven endemic to the island of Madagascar, the eighth native to the Indian subcontinent in southern Asia . In the UK it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit
Despite serious safety concerns, Madagascar periwinkle is used for diabetes, cancer, and sore throat. It is also used as a cough remedy, for easing lung congestion, and to reduce fluid retention by increasing urine production (as a diuretic).
Some people apply Madagascar periwinkle directly to the skin to stop bleeding; relieve insect bites, wasp stings, and eye irritation; and treat infections and swelling
Care: Vinca grows well in full sun but it can tolerate partial sun. It tolerates droughty low fertile soil. Being of tropical origin, it prefers warm weather and tolerates heat and dryness
