Planting for the second tourist season began at the Government Botanical Garden here on Monday.
In a press release, the Department of Horticulture and Plantation Crops said the second tourist season usually began in September of each year and that planting at the Garden was inaugurated by the Nilgiris Collector S.P. Amrith.
According to officials, seeds and plants from across the country, including Kolkata, Kashmir, Punjab and Bengaluru, are being brought to the Nilgiris for planting so that they will be in full bloom during the second tourist season. During the season, inca marigolds, French marigolds, asters, verbenas, lupines, poppies, sweet liliums, ageratums, chrysanthemums, calendulas, helichrysums, saponarias and petunias are among 60 varieties of plants that will be grown and exhibited in the greenhouses, galleries and lawns of the 175-year-old garden.
A total of around 4 lakh plants will be in bloom during the show, with 15,000 potted plants being exhibited in the galleries. Planting of salvias, daisies, delpheniums, dahlias and anthuriums has also been started, and will be among the 30 varieties of plants that will be displayed in pots during the season.
The plants will be exhibited for around a month once they start blooming, the officials said. They said a total of 3 lakh people would be expected to visit the Garden in during the second season in this September and October.
