Ninth tulip festival in Delhi: 550K bulbs being planted, bloom in February

This year’s Tulip cycle also includes, aside from bulbs imported from The Netherlands, 15,000 ‘indigenised’ Tulip bulbs

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has started the plantation of more than 550,000 imported tulip bulbs and the process is likely to be completed in the next two days, with the flowers likely to bloom in February, marking the ninth iteration of the tulip festival in New Delhi, senior NDMC officials said on Monday.

Tulips in bloom at a garden in New Delhi in February 2024. (PTI)

This year’s tulip cycle also includes, aside from bulbs imported from The Netherlands, 15,000 “indigenised” tulip bulbs supplied by the CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur (Himachal Pradesh), officials added.

NDMC vice chairman Kuljeet Singh Chahal said that the imported tulip bulbs are being planted at various prominent locations, roundabouts, public places and the diplomatic enclave. “This year NDMC has imported 550,000 tulip bulbs of which 325,000 are for the New Delhi area, 200,000 are for areas under the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and 25,000 have been provided to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi,” Chahal said.

A senior MCD official said that 25,000 bulbs have been planted so far. “The bulbs cost us ₹39 per unit. This is the first time MCD is planting tulips in its areas — its gardeners were given instructional training. We have selected 21 parks and offices where the flowers can be planted. The bulbs are treated to break dormancy and sowed at a depth of 6 inches in well drained soil,” the official explained.

Chahal said that the tulip bulbs have been planted at key locations such as Shanti Path, Central Park at Connaught Place, Convention Centre, Lodhi Garden, Talkatora Garden, Sardar Patel Marg, Mandi House, Windsor Place, Shershah Suri Marg, and the Vice President’s House roundabout.

Additionally, NDMC has successfully preserved 50% of last year’s tulip bulbs at a special conservation centre in Lodhi Garden, from which 22,000 bulbs of various sizes have been planted across different NDMC areas.

An NDMC official said that the tulips require a minimum cold temperature of 5°C for two months to break dormancy and sprout. “To tackle this challenge NDMC has purchased pre-treated and pre-programmed bulbs that can thrive even in unpredictable weather conditions,” the official said.

NDMC started planting tulips in 2017-18 with a pilot project of 17,000 bulbs. Before that tulips only grew in the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Last year, NDMC planted 200,000 bulbs of which 80,000 were planted in the Shanti Path area. The Dutch embassy had also gifted 40,000 bulbs to the council, which have been planted on New Delhi’s roundabouts.

In 2022, the council planted 130,000 tulips. The council had set up one storage chamber in Lodhi Garden last year and a new unit with two more such chambers is expected to come up in the next month.

“Once the bulbs are harvested after blooming in February-March, they can be stored in storage chamber at temperatures varying from 15-20°C for three months till July. They are later kept under low temperatures – 5-6°C – for 10 weeks till the first week of October. Then these bulbs are put in the production chain by sowing them in a growth chamber at 17-20°C to increase their size to at least 10cm,” the official explained.

NDMC to deploy 200 pre-fab structures for flowering plants

NDMC will scale up the deployment of the pre-fabricated structure to display the flowering bloom in the upcoming spring season. Chahal said that the civic body deploy 50 pre-fabricated planters (artificial flower beds) on the concrete central road of Barakhamba Road. “The horticulture department has designed special structures in their nurseries. These include 50 tree-shaped artistic structures with seven flower baskets, 30 artistic arch-like structures with 13 flower baskets, 55 cylinder-shaped structures, and 22 ball-shaped artistic structures,” he added.

The department will also put on display flower pyramids, cone-shaped structures, large round cylinders with 240 flower baskets, and seven heart-shaped structures. “These floral and plant structures will be displayed throughout the NDMC area as needed, with the aim of making NDMC a ‘City of Flowers’. Overall, more than 200 different types of structures will beautify and enhance the New Delhi area,” he added.