Land Of Orchids: Sikkim I Mainaam Garden
Sikkim orchids have become synonymous with outstanding Cymbidium orchids in India. Since the last few decades, Sikkimese growers have cultivated the best varieties of cymbidiums in their small backyard nurseries with consistent and vigilant care. Each day waking up early in the morning to care for the orchids come rain or sunshine, it is an obsession and a passion. Weeding, watering, fertilising, and forever observant, each grower acted with a conviction of a good flowering season each year. As years passed by the quality of the cymbidium orchids improved with the growers becoming proficient by the year, trying, and testing different methods along the way. Thus, the majestic plants famed for their elegant flowers blooming large and tall is a result of decades of perfecting growing methods by enthusiasts in the mountains of Sikkim.
Another reason that Cymbidiums seem to thrive in Sikkim is that Cymbidiums are native to the land, with the ancestors of modern Cymbidiums still growing naturally in the forests. Not just that, Sikkim is famous as a biodiversity hotspot and particularly for its orchid species. A short trek in the forests of Sikkim is all one needs to witness the numerous species of plants at display that nature has to offer. A close friend to Charles Darwin and an equally impressive biologist, Joseph Dalton Hooker took a walk in the forests of Sikkim in 1849. He was left astounded by the richness and diversity of plants with him identifying more than 3000 species of plants in the tiny state.
Today orchids, and Cymbidiums, in particular, are widely cultivated in Sikkim. Mainaam Garden has become home to more than 500 varieties of Cymbidiums alone. The nursery houses modern varieties of Cymbidiums that were bred by the best breeders in Sikkim and around the world. For any plant enthusiast and tourists on a holiday in Sikkim, a visit to Mainaam Garden nursery is a must.
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