Goldenrod flower to bloom year around in UP climate
Now eye-catching Goldenrods (Solidago) flowers that usually flourish in sunny climate, and are popular in floral arrangements will also bloom in Uttar Pradesh around the year, including the extreme winters when the mercury dips to as low as 3-5 degree Celsius.
A research scholar of Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHUATS), Naini Sai Bharath has succeeded in growing these commercially much in demand flowers all through the year in Prayagraj, an achievement that holds great promise for the flower farmers of the region.
Bharath has developed this plant under the guidance of SS Saravanan, an associate professor of horticulture department of SHUATS and Vijay Bahadur, head of the department.
“A Pune-based farm provided me with the mother plant with a word of caution that this will not survive in climate of Prayagraj or other UP districts. The flower usually is known to do well throughout the year in bright sunny warm weather. It can be grown in sandy loam to red loam soil with proper drainage, factors which were challenging for me to find out in Prayagraj. But I managed with some fine tuning,” said Bharath.
Although it lacks fragrance it is still very popular because of its attractive colour and thus is used in flower bouquets as a
filler material in combination with Limonium and Holli Hock flowers, he explained.
Using Goldenrod fillers in combination with Limonium is becoming increasingly popular in India because professional florists use fillers not only to flatter the bunch of flowers but also keep the cost of a bouquet down. So, horticulturists can not only grow this flower but can get harvest it all year along in UP using our technique, he added.
Bharath said that apart from its decorative value, this plant
also has various medicinal properties like anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, analgesic and antibacterial and antifungal, anticancer properties.
Being a high-valued and lowvolume crop, this is one of the most in demand cut flower in India and during special days can witness price going up to Rs 20-25 per spike. It is more profit for the small and marginal farmers because they can get more income in the available land and in the less investment, said Saravanan, Bharath’s guide.