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3THE HINDU SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 2012HYDERABAD PROPERTYPLUS

Since one-third of each day is spent insleep, the point is whether it is spent

blissfully slumbering or restlessly tossingand turning. Saying that, a lot depends onthe mattress. Magniflex has positioned itslatest product Duoform XS Firm mattressas speciallycraftedItalianmasterpiece.

The newproduct ispresented asone backedby an arrayof comfortfactors andsupportfeature. Thecore of itconsists ofan innerlayer of Memoform Magnifoam andEliosoft which aid in comfort, contouringand cushioning.

Embroidered by artisans with heartpatterns, the “Love Sleep Cover” has beenmade of thermo-regulating Outlast Fabriccreated by the research of NASA and selfregulates the body temperature,according to a press release.

Magniflex forsound sleep

Samsung Electronics has announced thelaunch of its new Direct Cool

refrigerator and semi-automatic washingmachine range.

According to acompany press release,the new and improvedrange offers enhancedconvenience andsmarter savings. Itpromises energyefficiency, eliminatesthe need of a separatestabiliser and isequipped with‘Coolpack’ feature thatdelays the rise intemperature evenwhen the power is off.The range is offered infloral colour patternsand priced betweenRs.11,300 to Rs.18,900.

Indus, the new rangeof washing machinefrom Samsung comes with a rust proofplastic and is available in four variantsranging from 6.5 kg to 7.2 kg capacitiesthat are priced between Rs.10,950 andRs.11,950.

Washing machinewith rust proofplastic

Zicom Electronic Security Systems haslaunched its IP-based Multi-Apartment

Video Door Phones with Touch Screentechnology and High-Definitionsupported 7-inch and 8-inch IndoorUnits.

The indoorunits’ touch-screen facilityallows hassle-freecommunicationand when theapartment owneris not at home,the SD card slotsaves the visitor’simage. Accordingto a press release,the units can beused as a screen to view multimedia filesand also act as digital photo frames.

The two-way visual intercom betweenflats comes with an in-built camera in theindoor unit. It supports audioconversation and also allows residents toview each other during intercom calls. Anin-built intrusion facility also supportsmultiple alarms such as fire, glass break,smoke and motion.

The wall mountable indoor unit doesaway with the need of a stand and thewater-proof feature protects themagainst water sprayed from any direction,the press release adds.

Video doorphones fromZicom

Abloom, they provide anillusion of floweryshower halted midway.Devoid of blooms, the

bright green foliage lends aluxuriant look to the wholegarden. One of the oldest cat-egory of plants used in gar-dens, Cassia is a gardener’sdelight, as well as of thegarden!

Cassia is a large genus ofhardy flowering plants in thelegume family (Legumino-sae) with about 760 speciesof herbs, shrubs and treesdistributed across conti-nents.

Some of the Cassia specieshave long been studied andcultivated throughout theworld for their medicinalproperties and showyinflorescences.

FeaturesCassias are short trunked,

with spreading branches andsmooth bark. The leaves aresoft, bright green and pin-nate with eight to twelvepairs of oval or oblongleaflets.

Depending on the species,these plants are evergreen,

semi-evergreen or deciduoustypes with white, yellow,pink, orange or red flowers.Flowers are five-petalled,bowl shaped, borne in clus-ters along branched or un-branched inflorescences.Fruit is legume, tubular orflattened; seeds are small andcompressed.

Cassia plant is fully cov-ered with flowers during theblooming period and pro-vides showy and delicate fo-liage during other times ofthe year and hence it can bethe centre of attraction in agarden.

Their long blooming peri-od makes them valuable ad-dition to any landscape.Another added benefit withcassia plants is that theyserve as larval host plants formany types of butterflies.

Cassias can be grown inmoist but well drained mod-erately fertile and neutralsoils. They need full sun foroptimum growth and pro-fuse, colourful blooms.

Watering shall be done as

per the climatic require-ments. Since Cassias requiremoist soils for their opti-mum growth, profuse water-ing is needed during thegrowth period. Regular deepwatering is required till theplants are established afterwhich it can be reduced. Wa-tering shall be minimisedduring winter.

Fertilize the plants beforethe commencement of theflowering season to havegood display of blooms. Bal-anced liquid fertilizer shallbe applied in the spring andmonsoon.

With their lean stems andbranches, Cassias are sus-ceptible to wind damage.Staking (Tying the plant tolong straight stick fixed inthe ground for holding iterect) is needed to protectthem from wind during theinitial months till the plantstands on its own.

Cassia plants are generallyhardy and resistant to pestsand diseases.

PruningCassia plants, with their

prolific branching, develop a

disorganized tangle ofbranches in the canopy.Prune the lower branches onyoung plants and the droop-ing branches in mature onesto keep the canopy wellstructured. All the dead anddiseased wood shall beremoved.

Cutting back the branchesby a third after flowering sea-son will promote profuseblooms in the following sea-son. But heavy pruning be-fore flowering can disruptthe natural timing or pro-duction of flowers.

PropagationCassia plants can be prop-

agated through seeds. But itis not easy because the seedsare very hard and water tight.Seeds being generally dor-mant, the process of germi-nation takes quite a long. Sothe seeds have to be pre-treated with acid (scarifica-tion) and soaked in water forabout a day for speedsprouting.

(The author is a forest offi-cer and can be contacted at‘nchandramohanreddy

@gmail.com’)

ATTRACTIVE: Cassias are evergreen, semi-evergreen or deciduous types with white, yellow, pink, orangeor red flowers. –PHOTOS: N. CHANDRAMOHAN REDDY

Cassia plant is fully covered with flowers during blooming period and provides showyand delicate foliage during other times of the year, writes N. CHANDRAMOHAN REDDY

A flower shower in the garden

Here is a new range from Prayag Polymers manufacturingbath and other kitchen & sanitary accessories. They have

brought out Dewdrops collection of bathroom accessoriesfrom the H2O series. It lends a perfect mixture of eleganceand sophistication to match your mood and choice. It has abreathtaking look and is made of brass metal, chrome platingand premium glossy finish.

Use of brass metal and glossy finish are meant to preventrust or accumulation. The range comprises 12 differentmodels with adjustable height in tune with your space andinteriors.

The H2O series is available in all the leading retailhardware or bath ware stores across India. There is awarranty of 7 years.

Dewdrops bath warefrom Prayag Polymers

A House on Stilts- may soundquaint as a headline. A house on

stilts in Shillong is very safe andpractical, indeed. These light Ac-cra-cane houses are built with apurpose and serve a purpose too.

Lyngdoh Cottage, for instance,was built on a slope. The levelledgarden had masses of Cosmos flow-ers in beds of sunrise- yellow andsoft-petal mauve and a lush greenlawn that moved onto a wrap-around wooden verandah, whichwas balanced on two-foot highstilts.

Ten feet away were the secondrange of concrete stilts, four feet offthe ground, on which were built thefront room, the living room and thebedrooms. The cosmos flowers,growing on thin, drinking-straw-like stems peeped into these rooms.The ground naturally sloped awayon one side and this was used tosupport the pipes and tubes whichfed the bathrooms in that area.

The six-foot high pillars thatstood further behind supported thedining, cooking and storage areas.Further down, about ten concrete

steps away and running under asloping asbestos roof, were the ser-vants’ quarters. There were bath-rooms for them which stoodfurther away in the back garden;

there was a washing and bathingplace which also had a hand-pump.

There were two lines of clothesdrying wire strung between a cou-ple of plum trees but no fencing or

or two, there was as much to do‘under’ the house as within it.What’s more, in Shillong’s unpre-dictable weather, there was a de-pendable covered-space tocontinue to play and one never hadto declare ‘Rain! No Game!’

On the last level, the plum treesthat fruit in alternate year, fruitedthe year that we were at LyngdohCottage. At first, birds and the chil-dren were up in the trees, eatingthem off the branches. But soon thechildren started bringing them tothe kitchen in their pockets, then inpouches and bags and then in bas-kets and buckets. The plums justkept ‘ Marchin’ In’ as it were!Bright, shiny maroon, they lookedgood in the brass fruit bowl or inthe crystal dish, or in the plastictray. Friends began sharing theirfavourite recipes for plum jam,plum chutney, plum sauce, plumwine and plum brandy. I made eachone at least once and the othersseveral times over. No wonder aposting to Shillong was considereda ‘Plum Posting’!

MEENA MURDESHWAR

compound demarcations, whichdesignated the boundary to anyhouse or indicated a ‘compoundlimit’. Mild tremors of earthquakesI could detect each time the handleof the brass bucket in the bathroomwent jiggling and making a tick-tick-click sound. As if in responseScooty, the Alpine pup (not astrange new breed, but part Alsa-tian+pi but nice=Alpine!) that wehad picked up, would start towhine-and-snuffle and snugglecloser to my feet. The bucket andthe puppy were more dependableand accurate than any RichterScale.

Traditionally, the householder’scattle and goats were tied under thethird shelter. It formed a naturalshed and stored the hay and cattlefeed. Under a huge over-turnedbasket, the hens were ‘cooped’ infor the night. In our case the blacktrunks afforded an even higherperch for a rooster who would wantto crow to the world outside andtell them that yet another egg hadbeen laid. Between puppies andchildren and sometimes a chicken

Lyngdoh Cottage, for instance, was built on a slope. The levelled garden had masses of cosmos flowers in bedsof sunrise- yellow and soft-petal mauve and a lush green lawn that moved onto a wrap-around woodenverandah, which was balanced on two-foot high stilts

House on stilts: built with a purpose

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PP Hyderabad/ CITY Page_03 User: hypdh 08-17-2012 00:44 Color: CMYK