coins and more: 2665) Did You Know Series (73): Our Visit to the Empress Botanical Garden in Pune to see the annual Flower, Vegetable and Fruit Exhibition/Show:

2665) Did You Know Series (73): Our Visit to the Empress Botanical Garden in Pune to see the annual Flower, Vegetable and Fruit Exhibition/Show:

The Empress Botanical Garden, a green paradise in the heart of Pune is a 39-acre bio-diverse expanse situated near the Pune Racecourse.

Visitors are greeted by rare & towering trees with dense green foliage, giant climbers it is a green heritage site not only to this city but for the state of Maharashtra.

It is an institution of living collection of plants, a centre of public education, major recreational place for the citizens, its objective being to conserve Pune’s natural environment & biodiversity for the generations to come.

The Empress Botanical Garden is an endeavour to conserve native biodiversity, establish a centre for scientific research and environmental education with to provide an unique ecotourism destination for the citizens of Pune.

Historical evolution of the Empress Botanical Garden:

In 1830, John Malcolm, then Governor of set up a trust called Agri-Horticultural Society of Western India.

In 1840, Bombay’s (present day Mumbai) Rani Bagh was also established under the Society.

In 1853, Botanical Garden in Kirkee was established.

For number of years the Society was looked after by various committees.

During Queen Victoria’s proposed visit to India in 1875-76, in her honour, the present garden was set up as Empress Botanical Garden.

Nevertheless, she could never visit India and in her place, Prince Albert Edward - nicknamed "Bertie" (later King Edward VII - 1901-1910) visited India, as there were moves on to declare her as "Empress" by the British Parliament.

In 1892 the Agri-Horticultural Society of Western India took over the management of Empress Botanical Garden Pune and it is maintained presently without any financial assistance from the Govt.

A brief description of the trees growing in the Empress Garden:

Many rare, exotic and indigenous trees are grown and preserved in the garden. Majestically tall White Shireesh (Kinai), 250 to 300 years old Banyan, Baobab (Gorakhchinch), Cannon ball tree (Kailaspati), Brownia and Christmas are some of them.

There are almost 150 species of tree are growing in the garden. The garden is also home to the giant climbers (lianas).

The sprawling Maloo creeper (Kanchanvel) with its thick branches & white fragrant flowers is always a sight to behold.

The serpiginous climber of Pilook with its white inflorescence & reddish fruits, the Garambi with longest sized pods and large size seeds are the unique species in the city.

Climbers like Madhavi-lata with white flowers and Jewel Vine (mothishirli) a giant one are also there in the Garden.

There is also a dedicated plant nursery for sale of saplings to the public at reasonable rates.

The Annual Fruit, Flower and Vegetable Exhibition/Show:

The Annual Fruit, Flower and Vegetable show is organised every year in the Garden during the month of January with the aim to display the variety of plants, flowers, fruits & vegetables for the observation and study of the public which helps in creating awareness & love for the nature.

During this Exhibition, the Garden is decorated with thousands of flowering & ornamental plants.

More than 30,000 to 40,000 visitors come to the show every year.

Many stalls are installed for the sale of plants, seeds & garden tools & equipment to the visitors.

Feature gardens, various displays, Bonsai exhibits, flower arrangements, nature photography, know your trees etc are the added attractions of the flower show every year.

Our experience:

We have been visiting the Annual Exhibition every year except for the period when the Chinese Wuhan Virus Pandemic (also known as Covid-19) had been prevalent all over the World.

This Year we resumed our annual visit to the Exhibition, thanks to Seema. We were pleasantly surprised to see a marked improvement in showcasing the exhibits and the painstaking efforts of the organisers/gardeners of the Botanical Garden.

I am giving here a few photographs taken during our visit by Seema:

The Welcoming Arch/Floral Decorations:

Seema and Sumita at the welcoming arch

A floral arrangement greets you in the shape of a Valentine's Day heart. Taking a photograph here was a favourite of every visitor to the Exhibition/Show - Sumita-Rajeev