Srinagar, Oct 23 : Bagh-e-Gul-e-Dawood, Srinagar’s Chrysanthemum Garden, located at the foothills of the Zabarwan range on the banks of Dal Lake, was opened to tourists on Friday for the season.

After inaugurating the garden, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah told reporters that the aim of developing it was to offer tourists something special in autumn. He invited visitors to enjoy its sights.
“We saw that large number of tourists came when the Tulip Garden bloomed in spring, but in autumn we had no such garden. So we developed the Chrysanthemum Garden, so that tourists get something special to see in this season too, something they cannot find anywhere else,” Omar said.
The garden, set up in the Nehru Memorial Botanical Garden, was developed and opened to the public last year.
The chief minister said the Jammu and Kashmir government is striving to strengthen the tourism sector. Tulip bulbs have to be imported every year for the Tulip Garden, he said, but the biggest advantage of the Chrysanthemum Garden is that its plants are grown locally.
He said new features will be added every year to make the garden more attractive. He also urged tourists from across the country, as well as local visitors, to visit it.
Director Floriculture, Gardens and Parks, Kashmir, Mathoora Masoom, speaking to media at the garden on Thursday, a day before the opening, said more than 3.5 lakh plants have been planted this year and that over 12 million flowers are expected to bloom.
She said the bloom is expected to last at least a month and a half. If the garden opened on Friday, its splendour could last till December 5 or 6, she said. The flowers can also withstand a light snowfall, which is expected in December, she added, and this quality lets the chrysanthemum bloom longer than the tulip.
Masoom said the Floriculture Department has increased the flower bed area considerably this year and is trying to make the garden more beautiful than last year. “This is a dream project of the Floriculture Department, which everyone is part of, from the commissioner secretary level to the gardeners working here,” she said.
She said several new features have been added to the garden this year, including a plaza decorated with colourful flowers and an ornamental water feature. For the convenience of visitors and to make their experience more pleasant, other basic facilities, pergolas (shaded structures), selfie points and an improved path layout have also been provided, she said.
The director said the garden has been developed around a theme: visitors will see autumn flowers, and a single flower, the chrysanthemum, will dominate with its colours. Maples, ginkgo and other trees have also been planted to enhance the autumn colours. It also blooms when the other seasonal flowers have faded, she said. “Elsewhere there is only autumn, but with the chrysanthemum we bring spring,” she said.
Masoom said the department aims to give the garden the same importance and popularity as the Tulip Garden. “We don’t want any season in Kashmir to pass without charm. Spring belongs to the tulip, and, God willing, autumn will belong to the chrysanthemum,” she said.
She expressed hope that the garden will play an important role in promoting tourism in Kashmir. Until now, she said, only the changing colours of the chinar leaves drew tourists to the Valley in autumn, but the chrysanthemum’s charming blooms will now also draw their attention (HS)