They `rose’ to the occasion, splendidly

PUNE, Sept 5: Standing tall in bottles of Gold Spot, or in prize-winning displays marked ``Titanic'' or ``The Last Salute,'' nearly 2,500...

PUNE, Sept 5: Standing tall in bottles of Gold Spot, or in prize-winning displays marked “Titanic” or “The Last Salute,” nearly 2,500 roses competed for the top prizes of the annual monsoon rose show of the Rose Society of Pune, which was held at the Tilak Smarak Mandir, yesterday.

With almost 70 participants from Maharashtra, the exhibition was dedicated to the memory of the late Indutai Tilak, founder member of the Rose Society of Pune. The Vijay Pokarna gold medal of honour was awarded to Chandrasen Dinkarrao, popularly known as Khashaba Shirole, for his commitment and activities towards popularising roses.

“I used to travel around Pune on my scooter early morning to buy roses in a bucket for the first few rose exhibitions of the society, when we always faced a shortage of flowers,” said Shirole, one of the founder members of the society, on receiving his award from Kasturi Rangan, rose breeder and proprietor of KSG Nursery, Bangalore.

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Suggesting that rose breeders and nurseries must make it a point to sell roses carrying name tags of their variety, to educate the customers, Rangan, in his speech, praised the Rose Societies of Pune and Mumbai as being the most active in the country.

Prof Suhas Ghaisas, president of the society, announced that a new rose garden in Sahakarnagar would be planted on November 14, and that a special breed of roses, developed by Pundalik Nimhan and named after Indutai Tilak, would be released in the market in January 2000.

Sameer Bhate’s “Blue Sky,” won the king of the show trophy, Mahindra Musco’s “Folklore’ was adjudged queen of the show, and the “Gladiator” of the Indian Card Clothing was declared Vijayshree of the show. These three categories of prizes are restricted to the Hybrid Tea class, with a single rose per stem.

The Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) walked away with the prince and princess of the show prizes, for “Summer Snow” and “Stars and Stripes,” and also the Maj Gen Mohite prize for the best institutional garden.

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“The Last Salute,” by Sonawane and group, with roses symbolising the Kargil conflict, won the Pune Municipal Corporation trophy for the best display.

Other prizes announced were: best Indian bred, Sameer Bhate for Yashwant, most fragrant rose, Oklohoma by Maharashtra Scooters, best novice, Anuja Chandgude, best bungalow garden, Sameer Bhate, best terrace garden, Ravindra Bhide, best nursery garden, Pushpalaxmi Rose Nursery, champion white rose, Sameer Bhate for John F Kennedy, and the maximum aggregate trophy also to Sameer Bhate.