Growing succulents at home What would you be looking for while choosing plants for your garden? In case easy-to-maintain and good-looking top the list of requirements, then succulents totally fit the bill. Plants whose leaves and stems store water to become juicy and swollen are called Succulents. They do this to store excess water which they can use later in conditions of water scarcity. Plants from over 50 families come under this category, and include the ones native to dry terrains as well as some which thrive in rainforests. A few grow along the coast, where their succulent tissue adapts them to the high salinity in soil. Cacti are a subset of the succulents. Succulents make for great house-plants. Some of the commonly available succulents are Agaves, Aloes, Echeveria, Sedum, Sempervivum, few Euphorbias and some type of Orchids. You can find them in many shades of green to purple to orange and more colours that you can think of! This wide variety in this family makes th...

The Royal One The name Begonia brings to mind the word ‘royal’. With its large leaves, often seen having a metallic sheen and its beautiful flamboyant flowers, this plant is one royal treat to the eyes. Earlier known for its pendulous flowers (in the case of Tuberous Begonias), today this species is mainly known for its foliage variety which can be grown as ornamental potted plants in a greenhouse or at home. With 1,795 species, the genus Begonia is one of the largest genera among the Angiosperms. The genus was first identified and documented in 1700 and named in honour of Michel Begon, a French botanist and administrator of Santo Domingo in the West Indies. Begonias are widespread in the world, and have adapted to varying conditions, resulting in the extensive variety seen in the species. They occur in tropical and temperate climates of South America, Central America, Africa and South Asia. Some of the different types of Begonias are: ·       T...