In a first, DDA Parks across the city will be adorned with Tulip flowers in addition to the usual assortment in the NDMC area, this winter. This season, there will be double the number of Tulips in the national capital as against 1.5 lakh planted last year in the New Delhi area. The city will be embellished with Three Lakh Tulip Plants - one Lakh for DDA and another two Lakh for NDMC have been procured at the instructions of Delhi LG, VK Saxena. The increase in plantation of Tulips and other flowers across the city is in line with the emphasis given by LG’s goal of turning the Capital into a 'City of Flowers'. 500 Tulip Bulbs have also been planted in the Raj Niwas Campus for the first time.

Tulips in yellow, white, orange, purple, blue, pink and red colour shades and other varieties of seasonal flowers like Petunia, Salvia, Cineraria, Antirrhinum, Poppy, Verbena, Dianthus, Hollyhock, Nasturtium, Coreopsis, Pansy, Lianum, etc will be planted soon at prominent locations for full public view.  

The upcoming floral spectacle in Delhi promises to extend its charm across 65 locations with the enchanting presence of Tulips, while an array of winter flowers will grace an impressive 91 locations throughout the Capital. Among these, Tulips will take centre stage in some of the city's most prominent and iconic spaces, including the diplomatic enclave of Shanti Path, Talkatora Garden, Windsor Place, Central Park in Connaught Place, Mandi House, Akbar Road, Chanakyapuri, Lodhi Garden, Nehru Park, RML roundabout, and more.

Besides these above locations, under the Winter Action Plan, seasonal flowers of various species would be planted at vantage points and parks with high footfall. Saxena over the year chaired meetings and discussions with Horticulture Divisions of various Departments and Agencies and their future preparedness with regards to flower plantation and other activities.  

The LG had issued instructions for double the number of Tulips to be sourced and planted this season.  In this regard, the LG had taken up the matter of sourcing Tulips with the Lt. Governors of J&K and Ladakh, and the Government of Himachal Pradesh.  He had asked NDMC to source it from these UTs or Himachal Pradesh, rather than sourcing them from abroad.  This, he had said will, apart from encouraging and boosting indigenous suppliers, also ensure cost-cutting in procurement.

Saxena had also asked agencies like MCD, DDA and NDMC who own and operate nurseries of their own to try and achieve temperatures between 10-12 degrees centigrade, in their nurseries, so that Tulip saplings and bulbs could be nurtured in Delhi itself.  He had also asked for the possibility of sourcing and planting Daffodils in the forthcoming season.

On the directions of the LG, the NDMC, has taken the initiative to establish a unit of the foreign flowers at Lodhi Garden in New Delhi.

According to NDMC, almost 54,000 imported Tulip bulbs were harvested this year, out of which 52,000 have been sent to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology in Palampur for further research. 2,000 bulbs are currently in the two chambers at the unit in Lodhi Gardens.