The National Botanical Research Institute’s (NBRI) research station in Banthra, Lucknow, is a riot of colors these days. Around 60 red tulips have flowered in the garden of the NBRI’s research station, and botanists claim this could be the first tulip bloom across the globe in winter.
Tulips usually flower in the spring months of March and April, but the warm December in Lucknow this year has advanced their bloom, springing an off-season miracle in unlikely conditions -- different soil and climate.
Three NBRI scientists are behind this unusual bloom -- institute director Ajit Kumar Shasany, garden in charge-cum-chief scientist SK Tiwari, and principal scientist Rakesh Chandra Nainwal. The trio toiled since October to nurture tulip bulbs to ensure their healthy flowering in the challenging weather and soil conditions.
“We began the journey of tulip acclimatization (their growth in different climates, soil, and other conditions) in October. We got tulip bulbs, and to make the journey more challenging, we chose NBRI Banthra research station on the outskirts of Lucknow, in place of the institute’s main campus in the heart of the state capital. Tulips grow best in well-drained soil, but we decided to grow them on the clay soil in Banthra,” said SK Tiwari, who has been curating NBRI’s annual flower show for the past four decades.
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