Spring is parked here: Delhi’s gardens are a riot of colours!
Lodhi Gardens, Nehru Park, Sunder Nursery, and Garden of Five Senses, are some of the public places in Delhi that are blooming with seasonal, springtime flowers. And, it’s a delight to be here at this time of the year.
It’s a riot of colours at most of the popular public parks and gardens in the city. The months of February and March are nothing short of paradisical for Nature lovers in Delhi. City residents used to witness many flower shows, around this time of the year, in the pre-pandemic era. Those events have not yet resumed at large scale yet, but there’s still a great opportunity to look around, and soak in the beauty of flowers this spring season.
Sunder Nursery: A sea of poppies
Spring has descended upon Sunder Nursery’s flower beds with red poppy, which have delicate petals and open flowers and are used as garden ornaments. There are also carnations such as sweet william, which are produced in a dense cluster and have a spicy, clove like scent. And there are many other seasonal varieties, blossoming for visitors to admire. Anil Pal, one of the gardeners here, informs that there are “more than 15 varieties of spring flowers” at this nursery, including cineraria, salvias, pansies, poppies, sweet alyssum and sweet williams.
Spotted while enjoying the sight of these flowers, near a water body at the nursery, Mehak Wadhwa, a Delhi-based teacher, shares, “There’s everything here from the charming flowers and the glowing greenery to the cool and calm breeze that flows and attracts me to this place when I feel like spending some precious time with my loved ones. Because of spring time, there is an increase in blooming flowers.”
Lodhi Garden: A picture-perfect display of tulips and... cabbage?
Prepare to be amazed at the Lodhi Gardens since behind a circular display of tulips lies violent and white kale plants, also known as ornamental cabbage! Sushil, one of the gardeners tending to these flowers at this picturesque location, tells us: “Ye gobhi ki tarah dikhta hai toh log aake puchte hain ki ye kaunsa paudha hai. Isko kha nahi sakte. Aut yeh Delhi mein zyada parks mein nahi dikhega. Humne white, yellow aur red tulips ka ek display bhi lagaya hai. Ye sab is season ke phool hain, aur abhi bahut achhe lage hain toh log photo kheechne aa rahe hain.”
Shiksha Goyal, a final-year student of BA Economics (Hons) at DU’s Kamala Nehru College and the president of Green Beans Society, the eco club of the college, says: “For a Nature enthusiast, south Delhi is a good place to roam around at this time of the year. I’m always on the lookout for new type of flowers for my own garden at home, and I’m going to check out these parks where flowers are an attraction to get some inspo!”
Nehru Park: A maze of marigolds
Lush circles of marigolds with spokes of petunias spread around it, make for an exciting sight at the flower park inside Nehru Park. Spotted walking in the lap of this scenic beauty, Kuijung Phanme, a student who is preparing for banking exams says, “I’m from Shillong (Meghalaya), and being in Delhi at this time of the year reminds me of the greenery back home. The flower arrangements are very unique here. I particularly love the bright pink petunias and the yellow marigolds... It often get tiring when one has to study continuously, so I came here and now feel recharged experiencing the sight and fragrance of these flowers. My friends and I even brought along a bedsheet and some sandwiches to satiate our hunger pangs when needed!”
Garden of Five Senses: A wintry illusion in spring
Yet to be opened for public, this park which is one of the favourites among the residents is burgeoning with beautiful flora. One of the specialities of this park is alyssum, and is planted in such a way that it looks like a sheet of ice. Ajay Kaushik, deputy director at the garden says, “Although freezing winter is behind us now, the clear white alyssum flower lays low to the ground and is clustered in such a way that it looks like one is looking at baraf. The best part about it is that it’s a natural mosquito repellent! Besides these, one can see jafri — a type of desi marigold or gainda that has gradients of dark orange and yellow in one flower, unlike the hybrid ones that are all yellow.”
Author tweets @siddhijainn