Flowers ranging from roses, marigolds, dahlias, carnations, bunches of asters, chrysanthemums, zinnias, gerberas, gladioli spikes and more were displayed at the exhibition organised at Regional Plant Resource Centre in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 10: The annual state level flower show held on Saturday and Sunday (January 8 and 9) attracted many people at the Regional Plant Resource Centre (RPRC) in the city.

The 23rd edition of the flower exhibition organised by the Plant Lovers’ Association and RPRC, showcased an array of flowers of different varieties and colours.

The plush lawn of the RPRC was dotted with fresh cut flowers ranging from roses, marigolds, dahlias to beautiful varieties of carnations, bunches of asters, large and small bloom chrysanthemums, breathtaking zinnias, gerberas, stunning gladioli spikes and many others.

Visitors made rounds of the exhibition and took photographs of the different flowers put up on display.

“Flowers really have some soothing effect on us. I simply got lost in the amazing beauty of calendulas, pouting roses and anthuriums,” said Prerna Biswal, a college student who had come with her family.

The lavish flower show included various attractions. One of the segments was an attractive exhibition of drawings and paintings by school children who had created colourful pictures out of their imagination on themes such as environment, gardens, sunset on a beach and others.

“Every year we hold a painting and poster contest for children before the flower show and exhibit as many entries as possible,” said P.C. Behera, secretary, Plant Lovers’ Association.

There was also the Garden Contest for the most well maintained gardens of the city by private as well as public institutions, nurseries and individuals.

“We received 57 entries in the garden category of which 42 have won awards under different segments,” Behera said.

Various nurseries of the city under the flower show category displayed a plethora of flowers. The cut flower section divided into Hybrid Tea and Floribunda segments, and flower arrangement section included display of exotic flowers in a bunch, beautifully decorated and adorned on showpieces.

Some participants of the flower arrangement section also used laces and other elements of ornamentation.

The winner of the ‘Queen of the show’ title in individuals was Santanu Kumar Sahu while Bijaylaxmi Moharana won the cut rose segment.

In the garden section, Siraj Nursery emerged victorious while C V Raman Engineering College also won many awards in the cut flower and flower arrangement segments.

“The bunches of asters, roses and so many exotic flowers have been beautifully decorated here,” said Dilip Kumar Pati, a plant lover.

Another attraction at the event was the Plant Bazaar that included the sale of saplings, garden tools, fertilizers, pesticides and flower inplants by nurseries, the RPRC and the Horticulture department.

“The visitors are going for lilies and ornamental cabbages. Since winter is the season for most flowers to bloom, there’s a lot of rush for various varieties of roses, marigolds and others,” said Snigdharani Rout, proprietor of Jayadev Nursery.