Entrepreneur Grows 600 Flower Varieties at Home

A woman entrepreneur from Kayamkulam, Kerala, Anju Karthika grows hundreds of varieties of roses and adeniums in her flourishing terrace garden.

Growing 600 varieties of flowers is not an easy task. But that is achieved by Kayamkulam resident Anju Karthika. Her front yard and terrace are filled with numerous varieties of table roses and adeniums. “Around 2013 – 2014, I observed the arrival of very unique colour varieties of Table Roses in Kerala. Eventually, I found out that they were imported from different countries like Thailand and Brazil. I decided to collect them,” says Anju. 

Starting with just 15, Anju currently nurtures over 200 varieties of Table Roses, as well as other flowers. She also has a huge collection of Adeniums, with over 400 varieties over 2,000 Adenium. Named ‘Green Flora’, Anju’s garden is spread across spaces around her house situated on 10 cents of land. The terrace has also been utilised for this purpose.

“When I started collecting the plants, I wasn’t aware of the potential of social media. My friends added me to certain gardening groups, from where I learnt about several varieties of Table Roses from outside India, as well as how to source them. I contacted sellers from cities like Pune and Chennai via Facebook,” explains Anju. “It began as a hobby, but eventually, it became more than that,” while adding that she makes around Rs 20,000 per month by selling her flowers.

Credits: The Better India

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