A vendor displays ornamental cabbages at a nursery in Kutchery Chowk, Ranchi, on Wednesday. (Hardeep Singh)

Pretty enough to eat? The capital’s bouquets are bypassing roses and chrysanthemums for more exotic blooms, including an edible flower.

While this may be a passing fad, ornamental cabbages, petunias and pansies in a variety of colours are the blooms brightening up gardens and living rooms in Ranchi this winter.

The flamboyant ornamental cabbage or Brassica oleracea is the clear winner.

Buyers are seen thronging towards them at Kutchery Chowk where they are placed in neat rows at the 12-odd makeshift nurseries. Available for Rs 20 per piece, they are brought from Kanthi near Calcutta and are also grown locally in Bero and Thakurgaon.

“We are selling 50-60 ornamental cabbages a day in various colours such as purple, yellow and white,” said Om Prakash Singh, owner of Prakash Nursery at Kutchery Chowk. “Customers like the bloom as it is versatile and can thrive both indoors and outdoors.”

Singh added they imported ornamental cabbages in bulk once in fifteen days from Calcutta.

“This is a completely new favourite. We bought it from Calcutta for the first time and surprisingly people here liked it,” he added.

Another nursery owner Sanjay Kumar, seen arranging ornamental cabbages in his kiosk, said the business was booming due to these new favourites. “We are earning Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 a day by selling them. Apart from these, petunia has high demand,” he added.

Well known horticulture expert Prabhakar Singh said the ornamental cabbage most sought-after due to its size and variety of colours.

“They used to be grown at Bero and Thakurgaon, though in small numbers. But this year, people are using them to adorn their living rooms as they look very attractive. It’s a new trend,” Singh said, adding that the state’s climate was suiting for farming this plant.

Once the numbers increase, imports from Bengal will be reduced.“Good for us that our naturally temperate climate in winter is favourable for growing a lot of flowers. Our state has the potential to be the floriculture garden of India and export them in large quantities,” he added.

Seasonal beauties petunia and pansy are grown locally. Petunia lovers gushed about the velvety blooms. “I love purple, so I’ve bought petunias in bulk in that colour,” said gardening buff Aradhana Mishra, a customer at Kutchery Chowk.

Are you growing or buying exotic flowers this winter? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com