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National Plant Fair 2012

Giant Amazon Water Lily wows visitors

Zyma Islam
A murmur of appreciation rose from a crowd peering at a water tub housing a curious looking lily having leaves broad enough for a man to sit on.
The name tag read "Giant Amazon Water Lily”, a native of the Amazon forest which Baldah Garden claims was available only in its gardens in the country. Alongside the lily was an impressive collection of specimens such as spinach fruit, keya fruit and exotic persimmon.
These were among a myriad of herbs, vegetables and flowering and fruit plants and trees on display at the National Plant Fair 2012 at Agargaon in the capital.
Open till July 5, the fair brings in growers ranging from regular farmers and food producers to specialist nurseries which proudly showcase their exotic greenery in different stalls.
One of the more eye-catching ones was a Ginseng bonsai, a miniature plant grown in the Japanese art form. The stall keeper was confident that it would fetch around Tk 12,000. Peach fruit saplings were also on sale at the stall.
Horticulturists were also seen picking out rare specimens like the madhuri guava having a deep pink inside, sweet tamarinds and grapefruits with reddish flesh.
A stall erected by Brae Kanon was selling small strawberry shrubs at Tk 40 each to the more adventurous greenthumbs. Other fruit plants like the small and furry reddish Rambutans were available forTk3,000.
"Dragon fruit plants are selling like hot cakes,” says a stall attendant, Masud Rana, "We have sold 500 of them already atTk200apiece.”
The demand for ixora, hibiscus, rose and jasmine were also high, being easy to cultivate. The white ixora with silver leaves was particularly noticeable while hibiscus flowers in every possible colour, shape and size were present.
The general assortment of fruit trees available in the country, like guava, lemon, tamarind and mango, were seen being showcased at the fair.
A stall of Bangladesh National Herbarium exhibited samples collected from around the country and visitors were seen scrutinising specimens and learning about the different types of
plants.
A scientific officer of the herbarium, Umme Hani, said, "Academicians too come to our stall to learn about the species and buy our publications.”
Fertilisers, medicine and gardening books were also available at the fair so that even those growing plants for the first time could easily get the vibe.