It's the time of the year again when we find small fruit flies hovering around inside our house. Perhaps is is because we tend to open our windows a lot more these days given the favorable weather outside. It is very annoying though, and so yesterday I thought of something that may help out with the problem.
Mina Plant Market
The Mina Plant Market is located at the Mina Freeport, Abu Dhabi just across the Fish Market on the left side, and the Vegetable Market on the other side. Apparently, Mina is a go-to place for almost any domestic needs you'd need-this is what I realized yesterday on our trip going there. But because it is at the other end of the city we don't normally frequent here, and given our experience yesterday, that may just change.
As we took a left turn to Al Wudouh Street, we caught sight of stalls with lots of plants on display! It's like we left the city altogether. There were no tall buildings, just these greenery in front of us. Cars were parked on the road as people stop by and check out the merchandise.
Still inside the car we were already amused by what we were seeing. We moved on and found ample parking spaces on the other side of the road.
My Grandma's Garden?
We strotted along and we were greeted by the eager salesmen. They tried to get our attention and showed us various plants and trees. To be honest, every shop had almost the same plants. So I guess the game here is to find the one which would give you the best price.
Suddenly it felt like I was transported home, back to my childhood. We used to live with my grandmother and she had a big garden. There were lots of ornamental plants at the front yard, and then fruit bearing trees and seasonal vegetables around. Most of the plants on sale here at the Mina Plant Market were almost like what I'd find back home. It was surreal.
There were calamansi, palmeras, santan, hibiscus, various succulents, orchids, even apple and mango trees!
While casually talking to the salesmen, I learned that most of the trees here are grafted hence the small size. Would you believe that flowering mango tree is almost just the same as my height and yeah, I am not very tall.
Indoor Plants
With lots of beautiful plants around us, we almost forgot what we came here for. Oh yeah, the venus flytrap! We asked around and they said, "Check indoor plants".
Yes, there were lots of other plants inside-- ones you won't see if you just walk by the sides of the roads (as if it were not enough).
My jaws dropped further as we headed on inside. Behind those plants and bushes outside were closed doors where lots of other indoor plants were kept.
I'm not much of a succulents lover, but I think that just changed here. I mean, look at these beauties!
Some of them had colorful flowers, and while I am not sure how long they'd last after leaving these shops, they still looked lovely and attractive for me.
Did you say, flowers?!
There's really something about plants and flowers that could alleviate dampened spirits.
At the aisles you will also find different stuffs for your garden needs. They have plant pots, garden soil and pebbles too!
"Do you have venus flytrap"?
I already looked online to have a fair idea of the price. It was somewhere around Dhs 30-45 ($8-12). A bit pricey for a small plant, but with all the ridiculous prices of the plants I see online, I thought it was fair enough.
The thing though, was most of the shops we entered did not have the plant we wanted. They said new stocks would come on Sunday. But still, with all these stalls there must be one that has!
True enough, one salesman said, "Check shop number 31". Now that gave us some kind of a sense of direction (although there really was no other way!) and we moved along.
Finally, we reached Shop No. 31. I told the shop attendant we were looking for a venus flytrap. At first, he gave me a puzzled look so I explained how the plant looked and he said, "Oh, the fly catcher!"
Then he showed us the plant. I honestly didn't realize it would be this small but he said that the plant is fairly easy to take care of and that it grows quite nicely too.
So we took 2 pots of the Venus flytrap which he gave us for Dhs 25 ($6.80) a piece.
Will these plants solve my fruit flies problem? I highly doubt it, but the experience we had while getting it was something else. It was therapeutic. Something I'd gladly pay $6 for.
All photos are mine.
for this beautiful Hiveph badge!