Kashmir bets on chrysanthemums to extend tourism into autumn

As the lush greens of summer fade and a hush of grey settles over Kashmir’s Valley of Colours, a quiet burst of life is taking root at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST).

The Valley’s first chrysanthemum garden is set to bloom this autumn, bringing fragrance, colour, and a renewed sense of hope — and potentially a fresh lease of life to Kashmir’s tourist season.

Nearly two decades after Srinagar’s tulip bloom transformed spring tourism, advancing the tourist calendar by almost a month, the chrysanthemum bloom aims to do the same at the other end of the year, extending it well into winter.

Taking inspiration from SKUAST’s experimental garden, the Jammu and Kashmir government has already begun work on an exclusive chrysanthemum (Gul-e-Dawood) garden at the Srinagar Botanical Garden, adjacent to the famed Tulip Garden.

“After the fall, everything turns grey, and that’s the time when these flowers bloom,” says Professor Imtiyaz Nazki, head of floriculture at SKUAST. “Just like the tulip boosted spring tourism, chrysanthemums have the potential to do the same for autumn.”

At the university’s sprawling campus, over 80,000 chrysanthemum plants are poised to burst into colour. “We expect the bloom to start around mid-October and last until November 20-25, when frost sets in,” Nazki says. “We are organizing a Chrysanthemum Festival during this period, inviting schools, stakeholders, and policymakers to showcase its potential.”

The festival’s tagline — “From Gul-e-Lala to Gul-e-Dawood” — captures a vision of a Valley in bloom across seasons. With more than 60 varieties in 20 colours, each with multiple shades, the flowers promise to overcome the fading hues of autumn. Officials add that polyhouses could extend the bloom until mid-December.

Behind this initiative are postgraduate and undergraduate floriculture students at SKUAST. “The students, from across the country, are driving this garden and festival,” Nazki says. “Faculty members are only supervising.”

Some chrysanthemums will also be moved to Srinagar’s city centre at Lal Chowk. “We are collaborating with the Srinagar Municipal Corporation to decorate the Ghanta Ghar and set up a selfie point,” Nazki adds.

Native to East Asia and Europe — and Japan’s national flower — the chrysanthemum is a perennial herbaceous plant that blooms in autumn. With thousands of cultivars grown globally, some varieties producing hundreds of flowers per plant, SKUAST’s experimental garden is expected to showcase nearly three million blooms.

As chrysanthemums prepare to paint Kashmir in vivid autumn colours, the Valley looks set to write a new chapter in floral tourism — keeping the spirit of spring alive a little longer, from Gul-e-Lala to Gul-e-Dawood.