Winter Dahlia at Lucknow

I have reasons for physical and emotional attachment with Lucknow having many sweet and sour memories. Apart from the entire higher education at the University of Lucknow, I also had opportunity to serve at Lucknow in government service at fairly senior levels. We had a keen interest and liking for gardening with a variety of plants and flowers especially roses and Rajnigandha (tuberose).

As a civil servant, I had never stayed at a place for too long due to the exigencies of service except while working in Ministries with fixed tenure but our stay at Lucknow was fairly long and stable. Incidentally, this was also the time when we as a family had ample opportunity to grow and nurture garden plants and flowers in our bungalow for successive years.

Apart from the aforesaid two and other seasonal flowers, Dahlia is another flowering plant which always engaged our interest and attention owing to its sheer variety, colour and grandeur. It has many species and flowers size vary from about two inches to almost a feet in diameter. Dahlia is basically a perennial plant said to be originally native to Mexico, Central America and Colombia but found in many other parts of the world as well. In India, it is usually grown in the northern and central regions in a variety of colours and size ranges depending on its species during the winter and spring seasons.

Here are a few photographs of Dahlia from my winter garden in 2007 during our stay at Lucknow.