Witness seasonal, perennial, exotic and medicinal plants in their blooming glory at the 24th municipal flower show. The theme this year is music
There's more than a nip in the air, and the prospect of curling up under a blanket is as real in Mumbai right now, as it is in any landlocked state of the country. Soups and broths are being craved, and you can even spot the occasional bonfire lit up by night-shift watchmen, wearing monkey caps. Winter is here, and how!
The saplings are first bought in tray
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And it isn't just the humidity-battered Mumbaikar celebrating the dip in the temperature; nature too is giving the season a multi-hued welcome with myriad blooms dotting the city's gardens and traffic islands - a facet that we covered in these pages in December, when winter had just knocked on Mumbai's door. Now that it seems like it is here to stay for a while, the city's municipal authorities have a treat in store for all nature lovers. This weekend, the Tree Authority and Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) are jointly organising the 24th exhibition-cum-workshop on plants, flowers, fruits and vegetables. The theme this year is music.
"We'll have various musical instruments including the flute, tabla, shehnai, veena, guitar and sitar shaped out of ornamental plants and flowers such as duranta, dianthus and antirrhinum. On stepping closer to the topiaries, visitors will also be able to hear pre-recorded sounds of these respective instruments," informs Jitendra Pardeshi, tree officer, MCGM. The three-day flower show, as it is popularly called, will feature a mass display of potted exotic vegetables, vegetables and fruits grown in containers, potted seasonal and perennial flowers (petunia, salvia, pansy, celosia, verbena, marigold, cosmos, gazania, cleome, and aster), medicinal and aromatic plants, cacti, landscaped areas, and artistic arrangements of cut flowers. There is also a competition between gardens and playgrounds maintained by individuals, private establishments and charitable organisations.
Which after being tended to are transferred to larger pots
But these stunning displays aren't created overnight, and require careful planning, given that the exhibits are not manmade. For the flower show to come together, the garden department starts work six months in advance, starting with the sourcing of thousands of saplings, which are then tended to and propagated in public nurseries in municipal wards across Mumbai; the ones in Byculla and Bhandup being the largest. Plants are categorised on the basis of their flowering cycle, so the organisers can clock their precise date of blooming, in time for the show.
The theme for the 23rd flower show was the aquatic world, wherein dolphins, crocodiles, crabs, star fish, octopus, turtles, mermaids and floral boats were shaped out of plants and flowers
"It is a team of labourers, gardeners, mukadams [supervisors] and horticultural assistants who work together to design the displays and shape the topiaries," says Pardeshi. During the show, nearly 200 gardeners work in shifts in their allotted sections to ensure the plants are in the best of health.
If seeing the verdure around you gets your green fingers itching, the authorities have ensured that you can take home a portion of it from the stalls for sale of plants and horticultural material that will be available at the venue. There will also be workshops on conversion of kitchen and garden waste into manure, terrarium making, indoor and kitchen gardening, landscaping, rainwater harvesting, vertical gardens, hydroponics and the art of bonsai. Ready to infuse a bit of green in your life?
ON: February 1 to 3, 10 am to 8 pm
AT: Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan, Dr Ambedkar Road, Byculla. (Entry free; workshops: Rs 100 for each session, Rs 500 for all)
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