One can identify Nandita Ghosh’s house from the Gladioli and Kanchan in the front, the cacti and succulents in the driveway and all the creepers crawling over the grilles in the balconies. Ghosh loves all types of plants but it is her collection of fruits that seems endless: Banana, Mango, Lemon, Kul, Batabi Lebu, Guava… no wonder she seldom has to shop for fruits.

I am a doctor who practises in Chinsurah and so I get to learn gardening from my farmer-patients there. For instance, they taught me that the more I let the fruits of the coconut tree ripen, the lower is the plant’s longevity. So now we pluck the fruits from my garden at the green coconut stage itself. Suits us fine as the coconut water from the plants is delicious.

Plucking fruits is quite a bonding activity for my family and we spend many a Sunday morning plucking whichever fruit is in season.

I’ve planted a Litchi tree too but it only bore two fruits last summer. So I offered them to my twin grandchildren. The Black Grapes on our plants are too sour so I make chutney out of them. The grape and guava plant draw many birds.

I love flowers too. On a trip to Kalimpong, I saw what the vendor said was a rare blue-stem Orchid. I had never heard of this variety before and bought it immediately. Once back in Calcutta the blue colour washed away after a shower and I realised I had been tricked.

My other hobby besides gardening is music and I would learn Rabindrasangeet from Suchitra Mitra. Though Suchitradi is no more now I still recall how much she would love the Mangoes and Jasmines that I would present her from my garden.

If you have a garden you are proud of and tend to yourself, send your contact number to The Telegraph Salt Lake, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta 700001 or call 22600115 after 3pm or email to saltlake@abpmail.com