sikkim and garden of five senses

nEW dELHI 11 jAN 2009

A trip to the Garden of Five Senses this weekend for the Sikkim Festival jointly organised by the state government and the Times of India group made
me think of one of life's most essential luxuries: flowers.

Whether it's a simple buttercup on a sylvan meadow or an anthurium's red curves livening up a minimalist room, there's no indulgence quite as delicately ephemeral and yet so strongly uplifting as a flower! And among them, since we are talking about luxuries, the orchid has to be the queen of flowers, as it requires careful rearing and handling.

Why Sikkim? Well, because I have never seen such gorgeous orchids before! Nodding in the winter Delhi breeze like the more usual gladioli, chrysanthemum and dahlia, the orchids exuded a mesmeric charm that most flowers would be hard-pressed to match.

Glistening with moisture, its velvetty sheen burnished by the mild winter sun, they looked so perfect as to seem unreal. It's easy to understand why these flowers command such prices around the world!

Which wedding decor is complete without flowers? Even if the humble by-the-weight saffron marigold can cut a dash, there is nothing quite like orchids to emphasise both rarity and breeding. That orchids have caught the imagination is evident as now the 'ordinary' ones are available for even Rs 30 per stalk, imported by the plane load from Thailand, in the usual shades of white, violet or yellow. And then there are the ones dyed turquoise to catch the eye!

Actually the sheer variety of orchids boggles the mind, both in its natural and hybrid avatars. Would it surprise you to learn that orchids are among the largest species of flowering plants? It is believed that orchids outnumber mammals as a species four-to-one, and they are more than double the number of bird species? Even so, they are rare because they either flourish deep in the rainforests and temperate wildernesses or in horticultural gardens. They aren't found in the average park or nursery!

Many a chic New York apartment has an orchid plant — usually a plain black pot with the almost bare, leafless stalk crowned by a magnificent spray of flowers. As a statement, it speaks far louder than even a barrel-ful of less exotic flowers. Increasingly India has also woken up to the orchids' less-is-more appeal, even if they don't know that some of the most beautiful species are grown right here in India.

Sadly, they are pretty difficult to maintain in the usual environment of our cities — which are either too hot, too cold or too dry for this moisture and temperate humidity loving flower! Ah, but that's precisely what makes it an essential luxury!

( sOURCE: ET)