Flowery feast: Bougainvillea plants worth up to Rs 35,000 are nurtured here

Bougainvillea evokes an enigmatic ambience of festivity and celebration for no reason. The courtyard of S Siji and Shyama Sasidharan's house in Kanjikuzhi Ponnittusseri is filled with a vibrant display of paper flowers. Hundreds of Bougainvillea plants, with some boasting five or six different coloured flowers on a single plant. Siji created this amazing world of flowers by grafting various foreign hybrid varieties onto native Bougainvillea plants.

Siji's life has revolved around farming since his youth. He's cultivated everything from pepper vines, carrots, beetroot, and fodder to raising ducks and practising biofloc fish farming. Some ventures were profitable; others incurred losses. Even after securing a job in the Legal Metrology Department, he continued his farming pursuits. Five years ago, the idea for this new venture sprouted after seeing large Bougainvillea plants uprooted during national highway development. He used his earlier knowledge of grafting (gained from his pepper vine cultivation) and experimented with Bougainvillea. He grafted hybrid variety stems onto the rootstocks of native varieties collected from roadsides. When a single plant bloomed in multiple colours, he was thrilled.

He joined various Bougainvillea growers' groups, learning new cultivation techniques and discovering new market varieties. He spent up to ten hours a day grafting and caring for the plants. He collected rootstocks of native varieties from various parts of the district and imported hybrid varieties from countries like Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines for grafting. The strong native rootstock supported the various foreign varieties, resulting in a profusion of blossoms. People flocked to see the spectacular display of colours.

Two years ago, Minister P Prasad, who visited to see the flower cultivation, highlighted the market potential of Bougainvillea. Subsequently, Siji's wife, Shyama Sasidharan, started a nursery dedicated to Bougainvillea in their courtyard.

Plants ranging from Rs 200 to Rs 35,000 are available there. All are grafted here. Some nurseries in other districts also buy plants from them. Around thirty foreign hybrid varieties, including Adarna, Pink Patch, Sakura, Flame Red, and Hawaii, flourish on the native plants.
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