Always fresh: Manjula Nursery, started in 1992 by S. Mani at Villivakkam, sold only rose pots for about ₹15. The shop is now on New Avadi Road, selling the blooms starting at ₹100.
| Photo Credit: M. VEDHAN
Many summers have come and gone, but the plant vendors along New Avadi Road have stood the test of time. Manjula Nursery, which was started in 1992 by S. Mani at Villivakkam, sold only rose pots for about ₹15. Now located on New Avadi Road, the shop displays plants with a splash of colour. These blooms start at ₹100.
Significant losses too
Mani, who runs the roadside plant shop, shares his experience, “We restock plants every week from Bengaluru, Hosur, parts of Andhra Pradesh, and Pune. Despite the profits, there have been significant losses too. If we bring about 500 roses, around 200 dry up or the flowers fall off, and we don’t have that kind of space to prune them for regrowth. No one buys them in that condition,” he says.
Across the street, Liji A. runs her own nursery, with cats running around her leafy lane. She has been there for the past five years. Her sentiments about the profits and losses in her business are similar to those of Mani. “We don’t have time for rose-pruning because we are mostly one-member team at many roadside shops. Occasionally, my daughter helps, but usually it’s just me managing the plants, selling them and handling the household chores, all at once,” she says. The plant prices at Liji’s range from ₹300 for small pots to ₹3,000 for plants like China doll. Every other week, she travels to Bengaluru as well as Hosur to pick the new plants. “When the business is dull, I go only twice in a month,” she adds.
Choices for indoor settings
Both Liji’s and Mani’s shops are recording an increase in customers residing in apartments asking for indoor plants. “Customers, even builders, buy plants in bulk for their apartments. Snake plants, crotons, cacti, and anthuriums are the choices for indoor settings. Snake plants are particularly low-maintenance houseplants,” says Mani, who has contributed to social events, and reminisces about rose plants that were sold for ₹3 while he was growing up at Padappai.
For Liji, selling plants is more than earning money. “I considered other options like tailoring or shopkeeping, but chose selling plants for the social aspect. Being surrounded by plants also keeps me happy. But nothing gives me more joy than a customer returning to give a review of how the rose pots bought from my shop keep blooming,” she says.
Monsoon isn’t something she fears about as the plants will, indeed, bloom, but even during slight downpours, the snake plants are hurried inside.
While sharing her journey, Liji began transferring a plant from a faded pot to a new one on the little pathway. She usually does this task after finishing her household chores. “It’s painstakingly long but necessary because some customers judge the plant by its cover,” she explains, ensuring the plant looks at its best in a fresh pot.
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