Indian housewife grows 60 roses in single plant at Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi: A bounty of 60 roses on a single plant has turned the balcony of Indian housewife into a gardener’s envy.

“I got a shoot from my hometown Kerala three years ago and planted it in a discarded paint bucket,” said Ammini Varma, pointing to the plant in her third-storey apartment on Passport Road.

“I feel happy just looking at these flowers. But they won’t last as the weather is getting hotter,” said the mother of two.

The family has been living in the same apartment since 2001.

“I always told my husband that I wanted an apartment with a balcony,” she said.

The nature lover also grows curry leaves, green chillies, tomatoes, pumpkins and cucumber.

Varma said she often uses her own vegetables for cooking.

“It’s a great feeling when I rustle up a fresh vegetarian meal from my garden. I never buy curry leaves from outside and I never use artificial manure Instead I make do with vegetable and tea waste. I think they make for much better fertilisers. And of course I water the plants twice a day.”