LAHORE: With a wide array of colorful flowers on display, the annual chrysanthemum show organised by the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) of Lahore will open today (Monday) in Jilani Park, a spokesperson said.
According to the spokesperson, during the two-week long event, more than 50 colorful chrysanthemum varieties, some of them exotic, will be on display. The main attraction is the innovative use of flowers to craft topiaries of animals such as peacock and giraffe.
Celebrated as the “Festival of Happiness” in Japan, the demanding exhibition dates back to its establishment in 910 AD during ancient times when odd numbers held significance as symbols of good luck.
Over the weekend, as the event setup entered its final stages, Jilani Park witnessed a steady stream of visitors arriving to discover an alternative world of blooms of rare size, color, and form.
The blooms range from delicate, threadlike flowers suggesting spreading tentacles of coral to enormous globes of feather-like petals.
According to the spokesperson, the PHA had decorated around 35,000 plants, including Marigold, on the Jilani Park premises. He mentioned that the exhibition is the only time of the year when so many varieties of chrysanthemums are on display in one place.
The PHA has also set up a shop at Jilani Park to enable visitors to purchase plants at government prices.
Director General Muhammad Tahir Wattoo said the annual exhibition had become a trademark of PHA, helping it revive the golden tradition.
He also lauded the organising committee, headed by Administration Director Muhammad Musa Ali Bokhari, for “working day and night” to present a wonderful chrysanthemum display.
