Jamshedpur, Dec. 28: The people of the city saw some rare varieties of plants and flowers at the annual flower show inaugurated today. Organised by Jusco and the Horticultural Society of Jamshedpur, this year’s edition has some amazing collections on display.

A wide range of bougainvillaea, chrysanthemums, dahlias and roses where on display along with seasonal plants like petunias and pansies.Among the varieties of flowers, the orchids were the one to watch out for. Rare varieties of orchids have found their way into the 19th annual flower show. Brought to the city by Debjeet Mallick, some 42 kinds of orchids were put up at the Green View Nursery stall.

Debjeet said it takes about three and half years for these plants to grow into full bloom. Generally grown in cool and humid conditions, the plants do not require soil to grow.

The ideal combination to grow this plant is mixture of leaf base with a sufficient quantity of hay to maintain the optimum temperature.

The flowering period is during the winter months starting from September.

Apart from the orchids, a lot of flowers are on display in the amateur section. With a whopping increase in the number of entries both in the amateur and competition section, the organisers could not have asked for more.

Flower enthusiasts from the far-off places of West Bokaro, Noamundi, Ghatsila and even Kharagpur are taking part in the show.

Also attracting a fair amount of attention at the fair are the rose plants grown in sand. The plants are grown under artificial conditions by using a fair mix of micro and macro nutrients.

The sand rose has managed to draw a substantial amount of people to the fair and to their stall.

The highlight of the show, this year, seems to be the bonsai collection put up on display by the East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Nitin Madan Kulkarni.

Boasting of a rare collection of bonsai plants, Kulkarni grabbed two prizes at the event in the amateur category by displaying such rare variety of bonsai.

The medicinal plants that were put on show were a major draw for the people who came to visit the annual flower show.

The medicinal plants were included in the competition for the first time this year and have proved to be a crowd puller.

“Till last year, they were only put up on display and no separate competition was earmarked for them. But from this year onwards the medicinal plants have been included in the competition. Seeing the overwhelming response from the people in this category we decided to include it in the competition category too,” said S.P Sharma, a senior member of the organising committee.