DOHA QATAR remains decked up with flowers of all hues: White, red, yellow, pink and blue flowers decorate the sidewalks and the dividers across Doha and also in other parts of the country through the winter and lasts until the spring months.
This year, however, is different as the flower beds have shrunk in Qatar, thanks to the infrastructural work being carried out on a massive scale across the country and shortage of a flower plant ‘petunia’, the commonest of the winter flowers in Qatar, due to a ban on its export by Saudi Arabia.
Several stretches of flower beds on C Ring Road, D Ring Road, the link roads and Airport Road within Doha and also other streets across the country, which previously offered a soothing sight with flowers in full bloom, look stripped of colour these days.
While on the one hand construction work is hardly avoidable in Qatar with the country intensifying its effort for setting the stage for 2022 World Cup, it has, no doubt, reduced considerably the areas designated winter gardens . The fall in the supply of petunias largely due to the Saudi ban, on the other, has led to an increase in its price by 30 percent this season.
Sources in the Department of Public Garden at the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning admitted that the construction activity had reduced the size of winter gardens in Qatar whereas flower dealers rued short supply from private nurseries in Qatar.
Muhammad, the director of Florenza Garden in Doha, said that the supply of flower plants from nurseries fell far short of the demand. “Some how the situation by getting additional supplies from farm houses at Al Shamal and Al Shahaniya.”, he remarked.
Muhammad added, “Holland is also a supplier of winter flowers to Qatar but the cost of the flowers is much higher compared to the locally grown flowers. For example, a petunia plant, which costs QR1.5 when imported from Saudi Arabia, costs QR4.5 when imported from Holland.” According to some nurseries, the new policy of the government to discourage balcony gardens at multi storied flats was a major setback to the nursery business in Qatar.
“Earlier, a large number of residents used to buy seasonal flower plants from Central Market and Omani Market for their balcony gardens.
Now, the house owners do not allow tenants to do so to keep the apartments and villas clean”, a salesman at a nursery Razaq Hussain said.
Petunia, which is available in different colours, is the common plant used in winter gardens in Qatar. It is largely imported from Saudi Arabia but also grown in Qatari farms. Petunias can tolerate relatively harsh conditions and a hot climate.
Petunias need at least five hours of sunlight every day.
They grow well in low humidity and moist soil. Petunias should be watered once every two to five days. Applying fertilisers once a month helps the plant grow quickly.
Petunias can also be grown in baskets.
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