Three-day rose show adds colour to summer festivities in Nilgiris

UDHAGAMANDALAM: The annual summer festivities in the Nilgiris touched its peak on Saturday with tourism minister K Ramachandran and handlooms and textiles minister R Gandhi jointly inaugurating the ever-popular, three-day rose show at the scenic government rose garden in Ooty. The show attracted more than 20,000 tourists on the opening day, when the climate was salubrious .
The main attraction of the show is the replica of the Eiffel Tower made of 35,000 roses. The show also features floral models of elephant, rabbit, butterfly, cricket bat, hockey stick and football, all made of roses, to name a few.
According to an official source, more than 50,000 cut roses were procured from Trichy, Pudukottai, Sivaganga, Kallakurichi and Vizhupuram to make floral models for the show.
Speaking on the occasion, Ramachandran said, “The government rose garden, spread across more than five acres of typical Nilgiri terrain, was established in Ooty in 1995 with 17,256 rose plants of 1,919 varieties. Today, the garden houses 32,000 rose plants of 4,000 varieties. We have green and purple rose varieties.”
He said the rose garden was one the 14 gardens in the world bestowed with ‘Garden of Excellence’.
M Mustafa, a tourist from Kerala, said the rose show was spectacular. “The number of varieties of roses in the garden is amazing.”
According to the horticulture officials, more visitors are expected on Sunday.
While the show would end in three days, the floral displays at the garden wouldn’t be removed soon. Visitors caould enjoy them for more than a week.