Orchids to beautify Lalbagh further

Orchids to beautify Lalbagh further
Vijay Times

LALBAGH Botanical Garden is ready to adorn herself further. After the setting up of cacti and bonsai gardens, plans are on to enhance the garden’s beauty further by introducing an open area Orchidarium, which will be a first of its kind here.

Once complete, the Orchidarium will house over 150 different species of orchids. Authorities concerned also plan to make people aware of commercial potential of orchids.

The programme was mooted in 2003, but saw the light of day after Garden Trust of Lalbagh gave it a green signal. This Rs 3.5 lakh project has a two year allocation period for completion.

Orchid expert, Karnataka Association for the Advancement of Science (KAAS) Anand Rao, who has collected more than 180 different species scouring the Western Ghats, today has acquired permission to grow these plant species in Bangalore. After hotspot areas like Bramhagiri range, KudremukhKemmanagundi area, Dandeli and SirsiSiddapur regions, Bangalore might just be the next provider for facilitating commercial trade of the orchids. "Our main aim is to create awareness among people about the existence of various kinds of orchids, which has a major commercial market. Due to religious beliefs, these flowers do not receive importance that jasmine or crysanthemum do," he said.

According to him, Lalbagh has the sub humid condition that is perfect for the growth of these plants that do not need constant watering.

Around 25 species like Dendobrium, Aerides, Luisia, Acampe and Philodata have already been planted near lakes and will start flowering by December end this year, said department of horticulture director Vasanth Kumar. "We realised that Lalbagh’s conditions are 100 per cent suited for these plants. Growing these plants will add to the beauty of the garden and enhance its plant wealth," he said.

While such ornamental and scented flowers can be exported, the horticulture department is right now focusing on collecting and nurturing these plants. "We will multiply the plants by using the tissue culture method that will provide hundreds of seedlings. This will be useful to regenerate the dying population in the garden. We can later think about the commercial viability of the flowers," Vasanth Kumar said.