ATGLife Mates: Featuring Minla Zangmu Lachungpa

From vegetables and flowers to a unique collection of carnivorous plants, her greenhouse is a true reflection of curiosity, care, and legacy.

How did you start gardening?

Growing our own food has always been in my blood, but I discovered mine late. Both my grandmothers were avid gardeners – I grew up watching my maternal grandmother tend to her bonsai collection during winter vacations in her small balcony garden while my paternal grandmother grew the most lush Gladioli, Cabbages, Potatoes and Mustard greens with leaves the size of a small child.  As a child my parents also encouraged us to grow and tend small patches of coriander, radishes and beans which didn’t amount to much, but it was fun watching them grow. When we finally were able to get a small green house setup installed, with manure from the neighbours cow shed I was finally able to really go all in, experimenting with different types of vegetables and flowers. Just before COVID hit, I even discovered the fascinating world of Carnivorous plants and have now managed to raise a small but fairly decent private collection.

What are some of your favourite plants to grow in the garden?

I am yet to have success with growing flowers from seed. Most of the stuff that does grow is usually small wild orchids and epiphytes that my parents rescue from fallen branches on the roadside. I’ve had success with Gladiolus and Asiatic lilies a few times in the past. My new but tiny collection of Philodendrons also seem to be thriving for the moment as are my Pitcher plants. I do love a low maintenance Passionfruit vine and Nasturtium – beautiful flowers and plenty of fruit and seeds for juices and pickling, and the bees love them! It's hard to have a favourite! Ours is far from a well tended garden and more of a partially organized mess but I love it.

What are some of the plants that you’ve not had as much success with?

Oh plenty! I’ve sworn off tomatoes, which is a pity because we love those. Brussels sprouts, Okra, Brinjal, Corn, Peas! Don’t get me started on peas. Even flowers from seed have been a challenge, so I usually stick to my usual bulbs or cuttings.

Are there any new plants on your wishlist?

I have a micro list of pitcher plants that I’m eyeing at the moment and fragrant varieties of Oriental lilies and Rose lilies!

What would you like to say to our new gardeners?

Start small and don’t hesitate to ask the local farmers / gardeners about what grows best and in what season. Social media is full of the most wonderful gardeners and content creators we can take inspiration from but it is important to think about what works best with our climatic conditions. And not to overlook native heirloom varieties – we are sadly losing many of our hardy native plants to glamorous hybrids that actually don’t do really very well here.

Any gardening hack you wanna share with us?

If you intend to follow gardening well into old age, protect your back! I’ve learned my lesson the hard way.

Any particular Instagram accounts you follow for inspiration?

I used to follow so many gardeners from outside the country with their neat raised beds and fantastic produce until I realised these aren’t realistic expectations where I live, at least not for the moment.

I was thrilled to discover more regionally relatable local gardeners like ramalaya_farm in Sikkim, mini_urban_garden from Nagaland, tieediforestgarden from Darjeeling,  little.food.garden, that I find more relatable and yalabeegardens who is a friend and mentor when it comes to home grown troubleshooting ideas. The growing permaculture community online is also an excellent source of information.