Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin inaugurates five-day annual flower show in Ooty

Udhagamandala: Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin inaugurated the 124th edition of the annual flower show at the Government Botanical Garden (GBG) in Ooty on Friday.
Flower beds containing mo re than five lakh plants of 275 varieties are spread across the GBG, extending over 55 acres.
As many as 35,000 potted flowers of nearly 150 varieties decorate the gallery. Heliconias, tulips and liliums were imported from Holland for the show.
A floral logo of Ooty-200 has been set up to mark the bicentenary celebrations since the colonial exploration of the Nilgiris. An 80-feet long and 20-feet high replica of Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, made of one lakh carnations, is the main attraction. Models of tribal people in the Nilgiris and a butterfly made of 45,000 flowe rs are also drawing crowds.
After inaugurating the five-day show, Stalin visited the flower gallery, stalls put up by local organisations and the Italian garden. He received petitions from the local people an d took selfies with tourists. A cultural programme was held to mark the occasion.
Minister for agriculture and farmer’s welfare M R K Panneerselvam, forest minister K Ramachandran, Nilgiris MP A Raja, Ooty MLA R Ganesh, Nilgiris collector S P Amrith and director of horticulture department R Brindha Devi took part in the inaugural.
Flower shows in Ooty are rarely inaugurated by chief ministers. In 1995, late CM J Jayalalithaa inaugurated the 100th edition of the flower show and the Government Rose Garden. After 22 years, former CM Edappadi K Palanisamy inaugurated the shows in 2017 and 2018.