‘President Pranab’ Rose to Blossom in Mughal Gardens by Spring

Flowers in full bloom at the Mughal Gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Friday. (Photo: PTI)

As the Mughal Gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan open on Sunday and visitors will soon be able to see roses and flowers named after President Pranab Mukherjee and his wife.

This is the first time a special rose will be named after a President. While the rose named after Mukherjee is yellow, the one in name of his wife, Suvra Mukherjee, is pink-purple.

"For the first time, two new roses named after President Pranab Mukherjee and his wife late Suvra Mukherjee have been put on display. The special roses are developed by plant breeders from Pushpanjali rose nursery, Jakpur, West Bengal. The nursery approached the rose federation corporation to release these two new varieties. The India Rose Federation approved the same and released the varieties in January during a rose show in West Bengal," Secretary to the President, Venu Rajamony, said.

A crossbred variety of rose, ‘President Pranab’, was planted last month along with another variety of rose named ‘Suvra Mukherjee’, will blossom in spring. The President’s wife passed away in August 2015.

Besides this, the other big highlights of 'Udyanotsav' 2017 are special theme-based exhibition of vertical garden forms and air purifying plants.

With an aim to increase awareness about the benefits of air purifying plants, around 30 varieties of them including Banana, Dedrobium orchid, Weeping fig, Moth orchid, Red edged Dracaena, Barberton daisy, Aloe Vera, English Ivy, Dwarf Date Palm among others, have been put on display in various sections across the gardens.

A combination of flowering and other house plants has been used to inscribe words 'India' and 'Jai Hindi' on the walls of the gardens.

A report in the Hindustan Times said that the garden will have around 140 celebrated varieties of roses named after renowned world leaders, including British monarch Queen Elizabeth, American presidents – Abraham Lincoln and John F Kennedy, first Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, legendary French fashion designer Christian Dior, and Mahabharat characters Arjun and Bhim. Two other varieties are called ‘Taj Mahal’ and ‘Eiffel Tower’.

The cultivator takes the consent of the person after whom they want to dedicate their product. It also requires an approval of the ‘Indian Rose Federation’ (IRF) and ‘American Rose Society’ (ARS), which confers final recognition.

President Pranab Mukherjee will inaugurate the gardens on Saturday and people can visit the gardens from Gate No 35 of the President's Estate from Sunday onwards.

(With inputs from PTI and Hindustan Times)