A day in Nature's own garden : Flowers of Sikkim

As Ralph Waldo Emerson says, Flowers are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world. Beholding the beauty of one flower can make you oblivious of your problems and sorrows and uplift your mood for some time, then one can imagine, how long-lasting effect a whole valley of flowers may have on the mind of the mankind. Henry Beecher has rightly said that Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made, and forgot to put a soul into. In this backdrop, i would like to take my readers on the floral tour of Sikkim, the abode of rare orchids and primulas. Hope, you will enjoy as much i enjoyed watching these eye-soothing blossoms.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

                      ~William Wordsworth, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," 1804

As you may be knowing, Sikkim is situated in ecological hot-spot of lower Himalayas, one of the only three such eco-regions in India. Owing to it's high altitudinal variation ranging from 1000 feet to 28000 feet, it is one of the few regions to exhibit such bio-diversity with in such a small area. Sikkim has been long known for it's rich flora and fauna. The hill station is not only famous for it's breath-taking and magnificent landscapes, but also for it's flowering plant varieties. To be precise, the hilly state is home to around 5000 species of flowering plants, 500 rare orchids and 36 Rhododendron species. 

It is hard to believe that you visit Sikkim and the flowers of Sikkim don't catch your fancy. The forests of orchids, primulas, magnolia, blue poppies and gladioli make a spell-binding floral spectacle and the large variety of Rhododendrons sets the hilly terrain ablaze in a riot of colours. 
Now, I will let the flowers do the rest of the talking:

And the last but not the least, The Rhododendron, the State Tree of Sikkim in it's full glory.

These flowers definitely adds to the beauty of  the picturesque Sikkim. One can visit the state even for the purpose of exploring it's rich bio-diversity. For those interested in spending time with flowers, flower show is hosted on regular basis near white house in Gangtok. Sikkim has also been hosting International Flower Show during the month of February for the last two years.

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