“The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul. “

— Alfred Austin

Constructing Expresses highways, building bigger apartments and shopping malls have become a mark of development in this super modern era. What we are forgetting is that the eco system we are nurturing lacks nature in it. It is an environment that has no colours to see, no scent to smell and no air to breathe.

concrete jungle
Photo by FGH Photo

We reached an era where the air we breathe has large amounts of carbon monoxide than oxygen. We need to recognise the role of flora now more than ever. I feel developing a connection with nature is the only way that can help us avert the path of destruction.

My bonding with nature stems from my mother who has her world of leafy friends. My mom is a big-time plant enthusiast, and since my childhood, I have seen her grow plants in whatever little space we had. She taught me the importance of leaving the flowers on the plant instead of plucking them. I could see how deeply she cared for her them, and I personally learned a lot by observing her do that.

Jasmine Buds.
Jasmine: It is a queen when it comes to fragrant flowers.

You might wonder how I do that in a small house like my mom. I know it is a challenge as we all live in a concrete jungle. But if you will, you will find a way! So many of us have already done that and come up with concepts like indoor and terrace gardening. I am not sure if my dream of owning a small house with a vast garden in the backyard will ever come true any time soon. But, for the time being, I made sure I have my own tiny Eden in the balcony and on the terrace of the house we live in. I grow herbs, flowers in my balcony and vegetable on the rooftop/terrace.

Mexican Snowball (Echeveria elegans) succulent
My new addition; cute little Mexican Snowball succulent (Echeveria elegans).
Italian Basil (herb) in a pot.
Italian basil: A must have plant in your balcony if you are an Italian food lover like me!

The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies.

Gertrude Jekyll
white rose in full bloom.
English white rose. One of the oldest plants from my balcony. It is in full bloom now.

Next on my list is to decorate my room with as many indoor plants as possible. Obviously the inspiration comes from those beautiful pictures posted on social media. While I was browsing through those pictures I fell up on a surprising question in the comment section. It haunted me like it did to many others too. Question is, ‘Wouldn’t growing indoor plants increase the carbon dioxide levels in the room?’

Baby corn stalks.
Baby corn stalks. The first harvest is still due. We all have been waiting eagerly for it to grow.

Let us break this misconceived myth

Generally, there is a confusion between carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide among people. The smoke from the vehicles and burning fossil fuels produce a large amount of carbon monoxide which is harmful to human health. On the contrary, small plants do not breathe out carbon dioxide in such large quantities. In fact small plants produce carbon dioxide lesser than what an average human exhales. Also a study by NASA reveals that plants help in purifying indoor air by filtering pollutants like formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, xylene, toluene and benzene from the air. This proves that sleeping in a room filled with plants is a far better than sleeping in an AC room (wink).

Crepe Jasmine plant.
Crepe Jasmine plant. Noticed a few flower buds recently.

When the world wearies and society fails to satisfy, there is always the garden.

— Minnie Aumonier

Growing plants can also help us stay healthy in different ways. Spending an hour in taking care of plants, trimming the bug infected leaves, watering and nourishing them can indirectly add a flurry of physical activity in our daily routine. Not just that, it is a fact that looking at the green colour will help you relax and give you a sense of peace. Well, what better way to do it than growing a teeny weeny garden just beside your room in your balcony. Staying close to nature helps us heal quickly; emotionally or otherwise. Even a small action such as touching a leaf of a plant for a minute or two can bring down the stress levels enormously. Coming to me, I spend more than an hour taking care of my plants, feeling the tenderness of the leaves and talking to them. I believe they respond to me in their own way.

When I am happy,
When I am sullen,
When I am sad,
When I am emotionally overwhelmed,
I just stare outside my window,
The leaves, the stem, the petals jump at once,
Look at me and talk to me from the balcony.

view from my balcony.
Window in my room that oversees the balcony.

I am participating in the #WordsMatter Blog Hop. The prompt for this month is “Outside My Window”. I received this tag from Holly Jahangiri at A Fresh Prespective. It’s my pleasure to pass on this tag to Suchita Agarwal at Tales of Suchita.

There are 47 of us on this Blog Hop and it will be spread over 3 days – 2, 3 & 4 August. Do follow the #WordsMatter Blog Hop and prepare to be surprised!

WordsMatter blog hop badge

Thats all for today folks. I sign off with a hope to see you soon!

Join me on my journey by connecting with me on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest.