I am in Karachi. Gulshan-e-Iqbal to be precise, so away from the salty air of the Arabian Sea. Have always been interested in Botany and took interest in the subject during Intermediate and B.Sc. I have come back from United States a few years ago and am in the process of exploring what plants can be successfully grown here without too much of a hassle. Thank God we have a handful of nurseries where they are knowledgeable enough to discuss things.
I've got most of my plants growing in pots on the roof. Just wanted to make it green and scented so I embarked on this voyage, and have 700+ pots on the roof now
It all started with a passion of growing Gul Mohr (Delonix regia) for some shade. While that has been moved to the ground, I have moved on with almost anything I can buy. Have also successfully killed some Holland imported specimens. Currently I am trying to see if I can acquire some of the scented trees (and plant them in the ground once they reach a relatively non-stealable size/state).A little while ago, while visiting the Gulshan branch of Shalimar nurseries, I was introduced to Artabotrys hexapetalus (or siamensis to be precise). What scent! Local nurseries refer to it as Nag Champa when in fact it is know as Hari Champa in Hindi. In my quest to acquire a relatively inexpensive specimen I have discovered that there are different varieties and the local thorned variety has flowers that are not as intensely fragrant as the thornless Thai variety (perhaps A. siamensis and not hexapetalus) which becomes fragrant towards late afternoon and into the evening. I have both varieties growing successfully with the Thai variety in the ground and anxiously awaiting first flowering, hopefully by the end of the year.
On one side of my house (corner plot) there are no electric wires above the ground and the whole kiyari is barren; facing west north-west. I have planted the D. regia near the gate. In the rest of the area I plan on putting in three Date Palms that I grew from seed this year ('ajwa!). In the rest of the space between dates I intend on putting some scented trees. Trees especially (and only) because there is a school across the street and the street is kind of main gali ... so noise and dust pollution (perfect Karachi scenario, ain't it? lol). One of the trees is going to be Michelia/Magnolia champaca (the real Nag Champa), another a Cananga odorata, a Michelia alba (Champee in Thai), a Stemmadenia litoralis (Pud Hathaya in Thai), and perhaps a Michelia rajaniana (Champee Ratchanee). I also have a big plumeria growing and I might use its shade to plant the Michelia(s) underneath, so they have partial shade and protection from afternoon sun. Any suggestions on this plan would be appreciated
.I am looking for a source to buy Michelia champa, Cananga odorata, Michelia alba, Stemmadenia and Michelia rajaniana. Does anyone know of a good source, a nursery or otherwise, that would have these beauties? I have picked up a sample of some variant of Michelia alba (awaiting flowering) from Makkah nursery. Farhan from Diamond nursery will be at the Jatujak market from 24th to 27th of July and I have asked him to bring me these if he can find them (which he should). But I am looking to see if someone currently has them here right now. I called a couple of places in Pattoki (of which I had heard a lot) including Changa farms who supposedly have big glass temperature-controlled greenhouses, but they do not grow these. The answer was 'yeh to Karachi ka poda hay'.
I hope some of the people here would have had some experience with these plants and would be able to tell me if these plants can be grown here, and more importantly someone would be able to guide me to a good source for these plants. I am also looking for sub-tropical Magnolias as well, besides grandiflora. You can check out my flickr pictures as well, which is not much, but I find flickr to be a good source of information as well, even for discussion.
Also, if someone could shed some light as to how many climatic regions there are in Karachi, it would be very helpful.
Hope to talk to you. WasSalaam.
Tariq
