Delhi in bloom: Tulip Trails, city’s floral renaissance and green diplomacy

Delhi’s parks and gardens burst into life each spring, with citizens enjoying picnics, yoga sessions, and nature walks. To promote environmental awareness and encourage public engagement, the city administration organises garden festivals, reinforcing Delhi’s identity as a green capital and enhancing urban well-being.

The lawns at Shanti Path, many roundabouts, and around 20 DDA parks were adorned with tulip beds in hues of pink, white, red, yellow, orange, and multicoloured varieties, this year. Nestled among grand Ashoka, Champa, and palm trees, these perennial floral gardens are seen thriving with birds, bees, and butterflies, enriching the city’s biodiversity.

Tulips, once exclusive to the Rashtrapati Bhavan gardens, have become a cherished part of Delhi’s green cover since 2017-18. (Photo: Swasti Pachauri)

This year the NDMC introduced many novel initiatives, such as selling potted tulips. Regular features like photography contests and tulip walks continued, drawing flower enthusiasts. These tulips are usually planted in December each year, and they take two to three months to bloom, reaching their peak in February.

In a move to promote indigenous tulips, 15,000 bulbs were planted in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, through a collaboration between the CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (CSIR-IHBT), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), and local stakeholders. This initiative fostering floriculture-based tourism, supporting horticultural livelihoods, enhancing urban biodiversity, and reducing dependence on floral imports, is a welcome move. The long-term goal is to make Delhi self-sufficient in its floral production, cementing its reputation as a “City of flowers”.

These tulip gardens offer a scenic escape to college students, families, citizens walking their pets, and kids. The diplomatic area comes alive with visitors capturing photographs, making social media reels, and engaging with educational exhibits about the exotic blooms. Notably, tulips hold special significance as the national flower of the Netherlands, adding an international dimension to their presence in Delhi.

Delhi’s tulip spectacle remains an annual highlight, promoting environmental appreciation, diplomatic connections, and a shared love for flowers. (Photo: Swasti Pachauri)

Unlike previous years, 2025 saw more intercropping of tulips with petunias, pansies, periwinkles, field mustard flowers, and other floral delights. One of the most beautiful patches was at the Shantipath roundabout, with yellow tulips planted with rows of yellow field mustard, pink, and white periwinkles. Then, there were the red tulips at the leading Shanti path exhibition intercropped and contrasted with the fragrant white petunias. Yellow tulips with pink petunias also made for a beautiful combination. A breath-taking sight was those of orange tulips blooming in full glory. Such intercropping measures not only add to green aesthetics but also provide for numerous biodiversity and ecosystem benefits.

However, this year’s festival faced some challenges, as rising temperatures led to early petal shedding. Samay Singh Chauhan, an NDMC gardener who has worked in these gardens since 1997, thinks that the tulip festival would be more accessible if relocated to a public park. “This diplomatic area lacks visitor-friendly facilities. A public space like Lodhi Garden would be a better venue, offering amenities like drinking water and toilets for visitors and gardeners,” said Chauhan, who commutes from West Delhi daily.

Despite concerns, Delhi’s tulip spectacle remains an annual highlight, promoting environmental appreciation, diplomatic connections, and a shared love for flowers. As the city expands its floral footprint, its vision of becoming a true ‘city of flowers’ inches closer to reality.