Exotica blooms in pots

For Maryam Mahmood-Thaika, gardening is not just a hobby — it's an endeavour to stay in touch with her tropical roots.

Having spent her growing years in Singapore, where her parental home had a huge garden, she longs for the evergreen landscape that invited butterflies, dragonflies, birds and frogs to her home.

But Maryam knows that creating a tropical paradise in this desert is impractical, so she grows exotic plants such as orchids and water lilies in the confined environment of containers and a pond.

She combines plants tolerant to drought and heat with tropical species to create a landscape that invites plenty of fluttering and twittering creatures to her garden, taking her back to her childhood days.

Accents of delight

It's a garden alive with flowering plants and wildlife, and packed with features such as a gazebo, pathways, a pond and pots.

The paved entrance is a bright setting for a selection of pots filled with vibrantly coloured annuals.

Pots of chrysanthemums, pansies, geraniums, globe amaranthus, lobelias, gazanias and petunias welcome you to the main door.

Sun-loving succulents such as desert rose (Adenium obesum) and crown of thorns (Euphorbia milii) bask in sunshine to produce plenty of bright red, yellow and peach blossoms while huge ceramic urns filled with water lilies and water hyacinth add a cool touch to the patio.

However, it is the sinuous brick pathway winding its way across the spacious lawn that captures your attention as soon as you enter the gate.

Shaded by a bower of lush climbers and bordered on either side by floral beds brimming with colourful petunias, the naturally flowing pathway makes a wonderfully old-fashioned focal point in the front yard.

The pathway allows you to take a casual stroll across the lawn without trampling the grass.

Draped in foliage and flowers, four rustic wooden arches not only add height to the garden but create shade along the pathway.

An attractive woody climber called Australian gold vine (Tristellateia australasiae) covers one of the arches in green foliage dotted with bright yellow star-shaped flowers.

This climber is also seen along the borders, where it climbs up to cover the compound walls.

Path to pond

Another unusual climber clambering up the wooden arch is the pink allamanda (Allamanda cathartica) that produces cherry-pink blooms with a scarlet throat.

Set off against glossy green foliage, the funnel-shaped flowers look very attractive as they hang from the arch.

The pathway takes you on a journey that eventually leads to a pond situated in the far corner of the garden.

The pond is a contained ecosystem, with lilies, fish, snails and frogs. However, creating something as elaborate as a pond required a lot of patience, hard work as well as a big budget.

According to Maryam, it took well over four years before the water lilies began producing dazzling blooms on a regular basis.

The water from the pond is recycled every alternate day for watering most of the plants in the garden.

The area around the pond is planted with Wedelia triloba — a perennial that covers the slope around the pond in a thick carpet of deeply lobed leaves and yellow blooms.

Embellished lawn

Surrounded by borders overflowing with colourful petunias, the large lawn is dotted with huge terracotta urns, a swing, a large birdcage, a gazebo and a circular bed with a stone sculpture.

Sago palms (Cycas revoluta) bearing crowns of feathery fronds, zamia with oblong leaves and bryophyllum with plantlets sprouting from notched margins create a low sweep of green around the stone sculpture.

The wooden gazebo has benches where you can sit and read a book or just gaze at the world around you.

Surrounded by huge terracotta pots that are filled with chrysanthemums, roses, water lilies, petunias and several exotic plants, this enclosure is a retreat from the sun.

Orchid corner

Behind the gazebo is the spot where Maryam grows her cherished orchids. Nearby, a raised bed and several terracotta pots are reserved for a variety of roses.

Growing orchids and roses is challenging in this kind of climate, but Maryam likes dealing with plants that demand special attention.

As you take a stroll down the garden paths, you stumble upon more hidden delights.

The presence of a mango tree bearing small unripe mangoes takes you by surprise.

Despite its exotic origin, the tree does well because of the copious amount of compost used in the soil at the time of planting.

Several frangipani trees (Plumeria species) stand along the border to provide shade.

Other shrubs in the garden include hibiscus and Cape leadwort (Plumbago capensis).

Annual colours

Growing under the shade of the trees are annuals such as the flowering tobacco (Nicotiana alata grandiflora), which produces white, crimson and pink flowers that open at dusk to fill the garden with a sweet fragrance.

Other annuals include purple verbena, orange marigold, blue ageratum, lavender petunias, magenta periwinkles, pink cosmos and white Queen Anne's lace or cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris).

These sparkle against the backdrop of sawdust that is generously applied to the borders to act as mulch.

Maryam recommends sprinkling a layer of sawdust on borders, as it conditions the soil, conserves moisture and keeps the weeds down.

Veggie patch

The paved passage has raised beds where tomatoes, including cherry tomatoes, are grown on vertical supports.

The vegetable patch in the backyard grows rows upon rows of broccoli, Indian beans, eggplants, tomatoes, chillies and corn.

This part of the garden also has a compost pile.

Maryam believes that adhering to sound ecological principles is very important for success at gardening, especially if you wish to attract wildlife to your garden.

“My garden is completely organic. I don't use any chemicals around the borders and grass because they harm the creatures that are an integral part of my garden.

"Organic fertilisers such as manure, compost and fish emulsion keep my plants happy and healthy. They make my garden a safe haven for birds, insects and earthworms,'' Maryam says.

— Chandana Roy is a UAE-based gardening enthusiast