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Ooty's Rose Park has 3000 varieties
by Jehovah G

     Ooty: With 3,000 varieties of roses and over six lakh (over half a million) visitors coming here every year, Ooty's "Centenary Rose Park" in Udhagamandalam is believed to be the largest in Asia. Since its inception nine years ago, the Centenary Rose Park at Udhagamandalam has become a major tourist attraction. The recently held fifth annual rose show, captivated thousands of tourists from all over the country. "The total area of this garden is 10 acres, that is four hectares. Out of 3, 000 varieties, we have 20,000 bushes laid down in five terraces. We have planted ten plants of each variety. One can see the largest collection in India at one place. Tourists can see roses for hours together during the day. May is our main flowering season," said K. N. Shanmugham, Assistant Director, Horticulture. There are 2,800 varieties of roses in the park, and 200 have been added this year. These include `Apricot Jewel', `Black Magic', `Big Duke' `My Choice" and `Sweet Lady. The show was an unforgettable experience for the tourists due to such a huge variety of roses, a rare treat for the eyes. "This is a very-very beautiful and unique garden to see. The decorations are marvellous and the way arrangements done is also good. We have seen different varieties of roses which are beautiful. The place is very clean and we are enjoying seeing all this," said Nikatha, a tourist. "The roses here are very beautiful and we have seen different varieties, colours and sizes of roses. We can understand how beautiful god's creation is," said Dhorothea, another tourist. This year, the garden has been nominated for the 'Garden of Excellence Award by the Indian Rose Federation. The garden authorities are hoping to win the award this year.
-May 21, 2006

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