Postcard: The Islamabad Flower markets and my new garden

I was very surprised to see the large houses that people live in here.  I was also amazed at the variety of beautiful plants, flowering trees and flowers everywhere.  Almost everyone has at least some garden or grassy area in front of their house, some people have enormous spaces!  I was happy about this thinking that Millie would have a spot to do her thing. 

So, I was a little disappointed when I arrived at my house and found this dismal spot.  It is tiny, bordered by the house, generater and guard house, not an especially nice place to hang out.  All dirt, no plants, and would instantly turn to mud during the rain, and it rains just about every day.  So, on the recommendation of everyone, I decided to hire a gardener.  He came over, looked at my dismal postage stamp, and recomended we take a trip to the flower markets to see what I would like to be planted. 

  

There is a whole strip of these nurseries, probably 40 of them along a main road as you leave the city.  They go on for acres and acres and sell every imaginable plant, pot, flower, vegetables, turf grasses, trees, etc.  It was a wonderland walking around looking at all these strange and unfamiliar plant varieties.

Wish I could figure out how to rotate this.

After walking around for an hour or so, I had a sizeable collection of bedding plants, roses, tomatoes and peppers, other strange plants that I liked but have no idea what they are, and large potted plants for my upstairs terrace and turf grass.  It was enough to require delivery.  It was written up and the grand total, including delivery, was under $100. 

 

The plants were delivered that same day, and the next day my gardener got right to work and transformed the place, so that I could hardly believe it when I came home that night!  It was like green carpeting.  The plants are all small and will need time to grow and fill in.  This is a great time for planting too, as it rains pretty much every day.

Millie loves her new spot and rolls around on it every time we get out.  Not much we can do about the generator as a backdrop, so will just have to ignore that part.  My neighbor told me he has been here 8 years and that no one had ever done anything with that spot!  So we are happy to have made a contribution to our home where we will be living for at least the next year. 





Again, how to rotate?