Flowers are symbolic of beauty, love and tranquility. Besides their aesthetic value, they are important for their economic uses, such as for cut-blooms and for extracting perfumes and other products. In our country, flowers are sanctified and are commonly used in worshipping the deities in our homes and temples. We are intimately associated with them, and on all festive occasions like marriages, religious ceremonies and social functions, the use of flowers and garlands has become almost essential.

According to an early survey made by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, flowers are grown in about 4,000 hectares for commercial purposes, with an annual production of about 10,500 tonnes of cut-flowers worth 9.26 crores of rupees sold annually in the markets of Bombay, Calcutta, Madras , Bangalore and Delhi. However, with the increase in demand for cut-flowers in recent years, the production is estimated to have gone up considerably. Consequent upon the rapid development of hotels and tourism, there has been a sudden rise in the number of florist's shops and kiosks in the metropolitan cities. The perfumes extracted from some flowers, e.g. rose and jasmine, are no longer luxuries, as considered by many earlier, but they have become the essential needs of our daily life. Perfumes are used in manufacturing soaps, cosmetics, hair-oil and in food and tobacco industries. Besides, the seed and nursery business is a source of income to many for their livelihood and provides employmnent for many. There is also a considerable scope for exploiting the export potential of ornamentals, particularly cut-flowers, plants,seeds and bulbs. Recently, there have been some sporadic, but unsteady, attempts also to export ornamentals.

There are some other perennial vegetables, such as cho-cho (Sechium edule L.), sea-kale (Crambe maritima L.) and horse-radish (Armoracia rusticana) which are grown in a very limited area. There are also some fruit crops, e.g. banana, papaya and jackfruit, which are cooked as vegetables in the immature stage. The drumstick is also a popular perennial vegetable.

Botanically, the ornamentals are spread over the entire plants kingdom, including both lower and higher plants, herbaceous annuals, biennials or perennials or woody trees, shrubs and climbers, succulents, desert or aquatic plants and epiphytes and terrestrials. Of the large variety of ornamentals grown in the gardens of India, a few very important flowering plants, useful for garden display, cut-flowers or the perfume industry, are described in this chapter.

Rose. (Rosa spp. And hybrids : Family : Rosaceae) The modern roses are derived from crosses between the Chinese roses (Rosa chinensis Jacq.) and the European roses (R. gigantea, R. damascena Mill., R. moschata Herrm). There are six different types of modern roses, grown in gardens, namely, hybrid-tea, floribunda, polyantha, climbing and rambling, miniature and shrub roses. The flowers in the hybrid-tea are well-shaped and are borne singly, whereas in the floribunda they are large and are produced in clusters, unlike those of polyantha, which has smaller flowers in larger trusses. The miniatures are dwarf, having small leaves and flowers, and are suitable for growing in pots.

PROPAGATION.   Roses are propagated both by budding and by using cuttings but the former method is preferred for obtaining better-quality and faster-growing plants. In Bengal, roses are also propagated by inarching. The rambler, polyantha and miniature roses are successfully multiplied from cuttings. The cuttings are inserted into the soil or sand from December to February. The commonly used rootstock is the Edouard rose, whereas in Bengal, in the northern hills and in southern India R. multiflora is used for this purpose. The rooted plants of the rootstock are transplanted in July or August at sites where the budding is to be attempted. The best time to bud roses is from December to February in northern India.

PLANTING   The rose-bed should be located in a sunny situation, away from trees or hedges and it must receive sunshine at least during the whole forenoon, if not during the whole day. The bed should be well-drained, as the rose does not thrive in a wet or water-logged soil. The best time to plant roses is from September to November in the northern plains of the country. The bushes are planted about 60 cm apart in a row and the distance between the rows is 76 cm. The standard or tree-roses (budded) at a height of 1 metre are planted about 1-1.25 m apart, whereas the distance between the climbers may be about 2-2.5 m. It is useful to apply about 8-10 kg of cowdung manure and 3 g of Aldrin or BHC 5% to each pit at the time of planting.

PRUNING.   The rose plants are pruned once a year during the second or third week of October in the northern plains. After about 6 to 7 weeks of pruning, the plants start flowering. The time of blooming can be adjusted according to the date of pruning. The new or so-called "maiden" plants are not pruned and these are generally tipped lightly before planting. In the old hybrid-tea bushes, the previous season's thick shoots are pruned up to half their length, keeping about 5 to 6 eyes on each stem. A slanting cut is made a little above an eye which is facing outwards. The floribunda is pruned moderately. The climbing and rambling roses do not require any pruning, except the removal of unhealthy, dead and interlaced twigs. The polyantha roses are pruned lightly, whereas the miniatures are generally not pruned.

MANURING.   After pruning, the soil in the bed is dug up with a fork with due care to avoid any damage to the roots. About 8-10 kg of cowdung manure is applied to each bush by incorporating it into the soil, and then the plants are watered copiously. After a fortnight, a mixture of fertilizers may be top-dressed. A convenient and useful fertilizer mixture can be prepared, by taking the weight, ammonium sulphate (2 parts) or urea (1 part), superphosphate (8 parts) and potassium sulphate (3 parts), and about 100 g of this mixture may be applied to each bush. A top-dressing of the fertilizer mixture can be given again in January-February after the first flush of flowering is over. A foliar spray of 2 parts of urea, 1 part of dihydrogen ammonium phosphate, 1 part of potassium nitrate and 1 part of potassium phosphate is also useful. About 15 g of this mixture may be added to 2.5 liters of water for spraying. It is often useful to spray the foliar feed, along with an insecticide, e.g. Malathion or Masurdin. The foliar spray may be started by the middle of November and continued till the flowers open but it should not be applied when the plant is in full bloom, as it will damage the flowers.

WATERING.   Heavy watering at comparitively long intervals is more useful than frequent light watering. Water-logging is harmful to roses.

SUCKERS.   The suckers or shoots of the rootstock emerging from the base of the plant should be removed as soon as they appear. They can be distinguished from those of the scion by the shape and the size of their leaves.

DISEASES AND INSECT PESTS.   The common diseases of roses are black powdery mildew and black spot. Die-back results in the blackening and drying of shoots from the cut-ends downwards after pruning. One spraying with rogor (0.1%) soon after pruning, followed after a week by another spraying with Captan (0.2%) is effective in controlling this diseases. Benlate (0.1%) may be sprayed from February to April to control powdery mildew and again in November to control black spot.

Among the insect pests, the important ones are aphids, thrips, chafer, beetle, red scale, mites and termites. The aphids, which appear during December to March, can be controlled by spraying the plant with Malathion (10cc in 10 liters of water). In July-August, the plant may be sprayed with DDT (0.2%) to control the chafer beetle and thrips. From August to October, and again in April, a spraying with Parathion (0.1 per cent) is effective in controlling the red scale. Aldrin-dust (5%) at the rate of 30 g per m² is useful against termites.

VARIETIES.   There are several thousand varieties of roses and several hundred new ones are being added every year. The choice of varieties depends mainly on the climate and the soil of the growing region for cut-flowers, exhibition, garden display, etc. and on personal or family preferences. A few important varieties are mentioned below.
Hybrid Tea
Red and dark red : 'Avon', 'Papa Meilland', 'Oklahoma', 'Mister Lincoln', 'Christian Dior', 'Happiness'
Orange : 'Hawaii', "Super Star'
Yellow : 'Summer Sunshine', 'King's Ransom', 'Kiss of Fire', 'Golden Splendour', 'Golden Giant'
Pink : 'Eiffel Tower', 'Michelle Meilland', 'Peter Frankenfeldt', 'First Prize', 'Montezuma' (coral pink), 'South Seas'
White : 'Virgo', 'Matterhorn', 'John F. Kennedy', 'Dr. Homi Bhabha'
Bicolours : 'Bajazzo', 'Ingo Hortsmann', 'Rose Gaujard', 'Granada'
Lavender or Mauve : 'Blue Moon', 'Lady X'
Copper colour : 'Thais', 'Vienna Charm', 'Whishky Mac'
Striped : 'Anvil Sparks' (red with yellow streaks), 'Careless Love' (pink with white streaks)
Fragrant : 'Crimson Glory' (red), 'Papa Meilland', 'Oklahoma', 'Fragrant cloud', 'Charles Mallerin' (Velvety red)
Floribunda : 'Charleston' (yellow and crimson), 'Flame-neo' (salmon), 'Orange Sensation' (deep orange), 'Banjaran' (red and gold), 'Iceberg' (white), 'Arthur Bell' (yellow), 'Africa Star' (mauve), 'Else Poulsen' (pimk, single), 'Delhi Princess' (pink), 'Himangini' (white), 'Prema' (soft-pink with deep-pink edges), 'Summer Snow' (white), 'Dearest' (rosy salmon), 'Zorina' (gealdine red) and 'Zambra' (orange)
H.T. Type Floribunda : 'Queen Elizabeth' (pink), 'Sea pearl' (pink), 'Pink Parfait' (light pink), 'Tiki' (shell pink)
Polyantha : 'Chatillon Rose' (deep pink, single), 'Vater Tag' (vermillion), 'Echo' (pink changing to white)
Miniature : 'Cri Cri' (salmon coral), 'Baby Masquerade' (lemon chrome), 'Little Buckaroo' (velvety red), 'Rosemarin' (silver rose), 'Coralin' (red orange)
Climbimg : 'Clg. Show Girl' (pink), 'Clg. Virgo' (white), 'Clg. Summer Snow' (white), 'Prosperity' (white), 'Marechal Niel' (Lemon), 'Golden Showers' (yellow), 'Lamarque' (white), 'Mardan White' (white), 'Mardan Pink' (pink), 'Cocktail' (red with yellow centre), 'Josephs Caat' (red and yellow)

ROSE PERFUME.   The oil of rose is extracted from Rosa damascena Mill variety. triginipetala Dieck (2n=14), popularly called Kazanlik Rose or 30 petalled rose. Bulgaria produces the largest quantity (2 tonnes) and the best quality of rose-oil in the world. The current price of oil is about 3,800 dollars per litre (approx. Rs 32 per g).

In India, the Damask rose, Rosa damascena, or the Bushra rose similar to the kazanlik rose of Bulgaria, is grown in several areas in Uttar Pradesh, namely Barwana, Banwaripur, Ban, the villages of Hasayan and Badanpur in the Aligarh district, Sikandarpur in the Ballia district, Jhinwar (Etah district), Kanauj, Ghaziapur, Kanpur, Saharanpur and Jaunpur districts and also in Kannaur in Haldi Ghati near Udaipur (Rajasthan). The largest areas (400 ha) is in the aligarh district, where the annual production is estimated at about 7,400 quintals. It is grown as an irrigated crops. Flowering occurs during March-April for about 20-25 days once a year. The bushes are pruned in December and at this time, the cuttings are planted in the field for raising a new crops. Very little fertilizer is used, except some farmyard or cowdung manure at the time of pruning. The yield of flowers is up to 3,600 kg per hectare, depending upon the age of the bushes.

The oil percentage in a rose flower is about 0.045. The flowers are plucked in the morning for the extraction of oil. The distillers, who usually come from Kanauj, set up the distillation apparatus in the cultivators fileds in the Aligarh district, where the rose flowers are brought from the neighbouring areas for extracting oil. The common products prepared are rose-oil, gulkand and rose-water. Rose concrete is produced in very small quantities. The Indian rose-oil compares favourably with the Bulgarian ose-oil. The quality of rose-oil depends upon the percentage composition of alcohols, viz. citronellol fraction is always more than that of geraniol in the ratio of 1.2 : 1 to 1.5 : 1. The Kazanlik rose-oil contains 72 and 74 per cent of these alcohols.

Another variety grown is R. damascena variety bifera. It is commonly cultivated in Kanauj (Uttar Pradesh) and gives a second flush of flowering in September. However, its oil is inferior in odour. The Edouard Rose (R. borboniana) or Chiniya gulab is grown for making gulkand , but it fetches a lower price. The species R. centipetala is also grown in some parts of India for making gulkand and rose-water. Its oil is also inferior both in content and quality.