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Nurturing their blooming business, Chiragi Gardens, the father-son duo Bomi and Cherag Patel are busy planting seeds of strength and wellbeing in Poona. In the last one year since they launched their enterprise they have been selling a range of exotic indoor and outdoor plants, lotus, water lilies, fruit trees, kitchen garden seeds, the entire range of good luck bamboo plants from three to 15 layers. "These good luck plants are in demand because they require zero maintenance, adapt to any environment easily and do not need sunlight. The response is very good as they make ideal gifts. Students, chief guests and trainers at schools, clubs, colleges, academies of professional training and corporates are honored with good luck bamboos instead of flower bouquets,” mentions Bomi. 

The Patels’ monopoly is their medicinal plants that include stevia which is reportedly beneficial for diabetes below a count of 150, helps to keep blood pressure in control and reduces stress. Its dry leaves act as a sugar substitute. The other medicinal plants as listed by the duo include insulant for diabetes from 150-500, bakdijapala for diabetes above 500, satapaja pala for colds specially in small kids, adulsa for cough, cold and heavy bronchitis, vekhand which acts as a snake repellent, ashwaganda for blood purification, weight loss, cholesterol control, pashan bed for kidney and gall bladder stones, sweet basil that heals cuts, wounds, sprains, headache and gum ache, brahmi for hair fall and memory loss, neer brahmi increases grasping power and cools nerves of a hot tempered person, sabja for cough and cold and 501 rose which is beneficial in piles. 

The Patels have their share of customer challenges like when a doctor from Hindustan Antibiotics in Pimpri had sent a 13-year-old girl’s father to the nursery. The girl had high diabetes and reportedly was helped by the insulant leaf within three weeks. "Thereafter the doctor informed us that he himself suffered from diabetes and our insulant leaf had failed to help him. We had told him that for it to be effective he should not consume oil and spice in food and have no liquor or cigarettes for three weeks. One of the doctor’s friends blurted out that he was a chain smoker and hence the insulant leaf was not effective,” adds Cherag.

Among their Parsi customers, 60 percent come for medicinal plants with the rest showing an interest in their seasonal and perennial varieties. Seasonal plants at Chiragi Gardens include aster (callistephus chinensis), balsam (impatiens balsamina), begonia (begonia semperflorens), vinca (vinca rosea), calendula (calendula officinalls), zinnia (zinnia elegans), chrysanthemum (chrysanthemum indicum), dahlia (dahlia variabills), geranium (pelargonium hortorum), hollyhock (alcea rosea), sunflower (helianthus annuus), marigold (tagetes erecta), pansy (viola wittroc­kiana), petunia (petunia hybrid), ornamental cabbage (brassica) and phlox (phlox drummondi). 

The perennial varieties are the rare shami, three leaf bail and Pride of Burma. Other perennials include kakda (jasminum angustifolium), kunda, gokarna, Christmas tree (aarcaria cocoo), bleeding heart (clerodendron), reweluta, table palm, areca palm (chrysalido­carpus), budda and golden bamboo (banbusa), China orange, canna (generalis), bamboo grass, duranta (golden speciosa), hibiscus (syriacus) both grafted and miniature, tea roses both miniature and hybrid, lemon grass, mint, aloe vera and bougainvillea.

In their range of outdoor plants, the non flowering variety that is easiest to maintain, according to the Patels, is ficus and among flowering plants, floribunda miniature roses and dwarf grafted hibiscus are popular. 

Dracaena and palms, arelyas (polys­cias) and syngonium (syngonium pixie) are recommended among the indoor plants. For seasonal and perennial plants their regular customers prefer to patronize the Patels over their chief competitors Jagtap, Suvidha and Empress Garden nursery since their plants come with personal attention and guidance on maintenance. Luckily they have no competition for their ayurvedic plants. 

The Patels offer an assortment of trees too. Except for coconut, all the other varieties being grafted like chickoo, fig, lime and pomegranate have given fruit in the nursery itself. They refer to the exotic allspice and basmati. Allspice grows as big as a Nilgiri (eucalyptus) tree and once a year when the dry leaves fall, they are cleaned, dehydrated and used as a substitute for garam masala. The basmati plant helps in giving fragrance to inferior quality of rice that lacks aroma. 

"We also have different manures like stear meal, bone meal and fish meal, earthworm compost, limbodi paint, urea, suphla, flower and fruit boosters, plant promoters and cocopeat,” adds Cherag. While most nurseries use chemical insecticides and fungicides, the Patels use and sell only neem based insecticides and fungicides which are environmentally safe. Other products include a wide range of plastic, cement and earthen pots, garden tools, equipments like pruning and hedge cutters, lawn mowers and spray pumps either manual, electric motor or battery operated. 

 "To run a nursery is a tedious job. Precision is important as less or excess water is dangerous for the plants. De-weeding, feeding via alternate manures from time to time, spraying of insecticides and fungicides, constant personal attention for individual plants and a check on workers is essential. During heavy rush of customers the possibility of theft is more,” explains Bomi as he recalls the time a lady put an entire portulaca hanging plant in her purse and when she was caught replied that it was just a cutting she was taking. 

Thirty-one-year-old Cherag has been interested in gardening since his childhood. From 1995-2003, he started growing and nurturing flowers and vegetables behind Bomi’s factory. "At various flower shows in Poona I have won almost 100 certificates and 40 trophies. At these shows I started interacting with people from the horticulture field. They recognized my talent and encouraged me to convert my hobby into commercial gains,” recounts Cherag. 

Financial compulsions made the Patels look at other avenues, they recall. In 2005 when Bomi, then 63, faced heavy losses in his sheet metal fabrication business, Cherag started running a nursery for Vardhaman and Company. Subsequently Cherag undertook landscaping jobs for bungalows, army institutes and hospitals in the name of Chiragi Gardens while Bomi ran the Vardhaman nursery. They have not received any formal training in their field although Cherag did spend six months at Khushboo nursery and another six at Sonali nursery to get experience and technical know-how before starting their own nursery. 

The duo credit Diana, Bomi’s wife for her moral support and encouragement, without which they would not have been able to achieve this kind of success. "We regularly visit the agiary and are deeply religious,” adds Diana. Besides gardening the father-son duo enjoy reading religious books. Bomi additionally enjoys Phantom comics and is interested in palmistry. Cherag likes stamp collecting and traveling. 

Their future plans include diversifying into herb cultivation and supplying them directly to the hotels, increasing their variety of ayurvedic plants and starting sale of exotic varieties of indoor plants.

Chiragi Gardens is located at Divyanagar, 17/3 Wanowrie, behind Shivaji Statue, Poona. Tel: Cherag Patel 9823561449.