KARACHI: The best thing about the Pakistan Annual Flower Show organised by the Horticulture Society of Pakistan (HSP) is that you find everything to do with greenery there telling this desert city that ‘yes, you can!’

The 70th edition of the four-day show, which opened at the A.K. Khan Park at Seaview on Thursday, beckoned people from all walks of life even though the first day, including the opening and prize distribution ceremony, was by invitation only. But by evening the general public were at the gates buying the Rs100 entrance tickets to go inside.

Other than the many commercial stalls of nurseries, seeds and gardening tools, lawn furniture and accessories, there were also stalls of hobbyists who came to sell handmade and hand-painted pottery, arts, crafts, etc. Of course the people coming to the flower show are looking to buy plants as they love greenery but there were also those who were planting the love of plants in people’s hearts. They could be found inside the many club stalls.

There were the Ladies Horticulture Club of HSP, the Ikebana International stalls, the Amateur Gardeners’ Club, the Sogetsu Study Group, the Indus Sogetsu Group, the Floral Art Society of Pakistan’s Jasmine Chapter, etc.

Spectacular opening of four-day event attracts enthusiasts in a big number

At the Amateur Gardeners’ Club, its president Rafia Khalid said that they have 208 members. “And we are always open to take more because it is our work to encourage amateurs to learn gardening,” she said.

But others certainly did not fit the amateurs category. At the Ladies Horticulture Club stall, some of the club’s senior members were found selling jam, jelly, marmalade, pickle, chutney, sherbet and what not, all made by themselves from the fruits and vegetables grown by them organically. Rahat Haque, a member, said she joined the club back in 1968. “Then we used to set up a stall at Gandhi Garden and our meetings used to be held in the home of HSP founder A.K. Khan Saheb,” said Ms Haque.

Dr Hina Baig said that their club basically works on food security. “We try to encourage everyone to grow kitchen gardens, herbs, fruits, vegetables, etc. All the eatables being sold here on our stall are made by ourselves and also jarred by ourselves,” she added with pride.

Ikebana International Karachi chapter 204 president Sabra Tufail shared that they have some 53 students, who made all the arrangements on display on their stall. These are all hanging arrangements. “Well, we decide months ago on what kind of arrangements we should do. This time we are following a hanging arrangements theme,” she said.

At the Jasmine chapter of the Floral Art Society, there was a huge display of pink chrysanthemums. At first one thought that they were different arrangements using the same flower but then Nauroze Iftekhar, one of the members, explained that it was one big arrangement. She had herself also done another arrangement there using palm leaves that she had twisted to take the shape of a boat which also had palm seeds.

Many visitors wanted to touch the arrangements but Shehla Dutta, the Jasmine chapter’s secretary, asked them not to touch anything. Someone then commented that she was being very polite as it was the first day of the flower show. By the end of the four days, they bet she would be screaming. But she smiled in reply and said: “People who work with flowers have a very soft and mild temperament. We never scream,” she said.

Nafisa Tapal, the director of the Indus Sogetsu Group was minding her stall where they had arrangements even without flowers. “Well, we use all the rubbish that we can find to come up with our arrangements,” she said. A teacher of the art for 15 years at the Japanese consulate, she said that she felt proud that they have chapters in other cities of the country too where her students are taking on other students and teaching them this beautiful branch of Ikebana.

Right next them was the Karachi Sogetsu Study Group where they had used lots of flowers in their arrangements. Asked if the flowers would stay fresh for the duration of the show, Shahina Zubairi said that they are spraying the flowers with water. “Also we might replace the flowers,” she added.

Earlier, during the opening ceremony, HSP chairman Fahim Siddiqui said that organising the flower show for 70 years takes much commitment. The presence of the HSP founder A.K. Khan Saheb and Lieutenant General Jahanzeb Arbab, who helped the annual show grow so big that it is today even outgrowing the A.K. Khan Park, was badly missed.

The chief guest on the occasion, Lieutenant General Muhammad Saeed. the Corps Commander of Karachi, said that he was glad to see so many people taking interest in gardening. He said he particularly liked the interest of people in growing their own kitchen gardens.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2022