It is time to see the brilliantly-coloured blooms at the Republic Day Lalbagh Flower show. “This is the 209th show and Mahatma Gandhi is inundated with flowers at the glass house,” says M Jagadeesh, Joint Director (Parks and Gardens).
The floral tribute to the Father of the Nation for his 150th birth anniversary has art works of him in various mediums placed amidst flowers. Flowers adorn the walls of a model of the Mahatma’s cottage in Wardha. The Sabarmati Ashram has been recreated with nearly 2.5 lakh red roses, 3.2 lakh white chrysanthemum and 80,000 orange roses.
Talking of the effort that went into the creations, Jagadeesh says, “Twenty labourers occupied the glass house and completed the metal frame for the ashram in 15 days. Forty-five people worked non-stop for three days to decorate the frame with a variety of flowers.”
There is also a giant replica of Gandhiji’s glasses made of millets, a sculpture of the Dandi March and models of the three monkeys in hay. The 12-foot statue of the Mahatma in meditation created by Tejendra Baoni, sculpture artist and Principal, Chitrakala Parishath (CKP) takes pride of place.
“We took some time to zero-in on the kind of decoration that would be suitable for Baoni’s statue,” says Jagadeesh. “We chose 250 holders and brought in potted orchids, anthuriums, carnations, chrysanthemums and the common indoor plant, Dracaena massangeana for a distinct mix.”
Roses from the Bangalore Development Authority’s showcase bagged the first prize in the Glass House display. “Thanks to good rains and sunshine in the beginning of winter, we have had no problem getting roses that mainly come from the borders of Bengaluru,” says Jagadeesh.
Bengalureans should not miss the chance of seeing the Darjeeling Cymbidium, an orchid that is grown 10,000 feet above sea level. “This is the first time we are including them at the Lalbagh show and we have 250 species of these rare orchids in 76 hues, made up into pyramids in the corner of the glass house,” he says.
Not a single flower will go waste as the used flowers will be part of the nearly 1,000 kg of organic compost worth nearly ₹ 30,000 after the show. “We have a minuscule percentage of the litter sent to the landfill as reject waste,” adds Jagadeesh.