INVC,,
Chandigarh,
Chandigarh Administration is all decked up to
celebrate its forthcoming mega event Chandigarh Rose festival
beginning from February 25 to 27 at Rose Garden, Sector 16 and Leisure
Valley, Sector-10. The Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned Rs 269 Lacs
for the up gradation and all-round development of this garden. The
preparations of the festival are on full swing. Work is already
underway for the collection of various varieties from different parts
of the country. Presently, the garden has been planted with 32500
plants of 850 rose varieties. Two musical fountains have been added to
enhance the beauty of this garden.
The Rose Garden is being refurbished on a unique
concept given by Dr.Satish Kumar Narula, PAU Senior horticulturist cum
Consultant and adviser to Tourism Department on theme Gardens UT ,
Chandigarh
Rose Garden is one of the most frequented gardens of the
city. The garden has been divided in 10 sections. While designing,
care has been taken to include various sections planted with different
kind of roses, children’s corner equipped with modern child friendly
swings etc. and the experiment area. The planning has been done
keeping in view the domestic visitors, foreign tourists and local
residents. The garden has been planted with various kinds of
ornamental and medicinal trees, shrubs and climbers too to keep the
garden in color during the off season. It has also been equipped with
two musical fountains. For morning strollers, various fragrant shrubs
have been introduced along the paths. Various rose climbers have been
planted along the periphery on specially designed structures along the
path to spread fragrance.
Section of Roses Named After World Personalities in
Rose Garden are Dr M. S. Randhawa, Queen Elizabeth, John F Kennedy,
Gen. Vaidhya, President Giri, Lady Di, Lal Bahadur whereas Section of
Roses With Funny/Unusual Names are Only You, Dulhan, King’s Ransom,
Hippie Girl, Love Me Tender, Careless Love, Lover’s Meeting in
addition to this Roses Named After Countries/States: Delhi Prince,
Oklahoma, American Heritage, Louisiana, Canadian Centenary, City of
Belfast, Section of Roses Named after Fruits are Fragrant Plum, Wild
Plum, Cherry Perfait, Dorothy Peach. An exclusive section on PRIDE OF
INDIA will be made where varieties developed by Indian Scientists will
be planted. Besides there are sections of Hybrid Teas, Floribundas,
Miniatures and Climbers.
It is the endeavour of the Chandigarh
administration to create a back up facility for the rose garden so
that there are no gaps left in the garden in future. For this a modern
nursery is being developed keeping all the varieties introduced as
mother plants. A quick method of multiplication, the ‘PAU
Buddage/Cuttage method’ has been introduced. The garden has devoted a
small portion for research purpose too. So as to avoid future decline
in rose garden, an experiment has been laid in collaboration with
Institute of Himalayan Bio-resources and local unit of Punjab
Agricultural University to identify alternative root-stocks. This is
for the first time in the world that some of the rootstock species
located growing wild in Himalayas is being tested in the plains. This
makes the Chandigarh Rose Garden, the ‘Rose Test Garden’ too to bring
it at par with the other World Rose Gardens.
