VIJAYAWADA:Is the climate of Vijayawada suitable for roses? Yes! say the members of the Rose Society of Andhra Pradesh (RSAP) without the slightest hesitation. They are going to put on display 600 varieties and 7,000 rose plants for four days from Republic Day (Thursday).
The Rose Show will be part of a larger State Level Rose and Flower Show that is being conducted in association with the State Government and the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation.
RSAP secretary Siripurapu Nehru said the rose plants had been brought from one of the best nurseries in the country in Kharagpur in West Bengal.
The idea of going all the way to West Bengal was because the weather there was very similar to that of Vijayawada, he said.
The effort did not go waste because all the plants brought from there survived and were thriving.
Another reason for the different varieties flourishing was that they were grown not in soil but charcoal substratum. All plants were cultivated on drip irrigated water mixed with necessary nutrients, Mr. Nehru explained.
RSAP president Thotakura Akilandeswari Rani said RSAP was unique because it was the only rose society in the country with its own rose garden. There were rose societies in around 20 States in the country, but the A.P. society was the only one with its own garden, Ms. Rani claimed.
Rose aficionados who come to the show can appreciate the variety of colours, sizes in bunches or otherwise.
In the floribunda roses, each stem produced a cluster of roses and the HT or Hybrid Tea roses were known for the long and upright stems, Ms Rani explained.
The organisers were still in a state of confusion about how to manage the crowds that would come to the show because there was nothing that would prevent the public from picking the flowers. So rose lovers might be lucky if they were allowed to see the flowers even from a distance.
They might have to wait for the show to be over to actually feel and smell the roses, a society member said.
