Visiting Argentina’s “Flower City”
By “Awake!” correspondent in Argentina
COLOR in a vast variety of shades and shapes is what will greet your eyes in Argentina’s “Flower City” at the time of the annual Flower Festival. Delightful fragrance will fill the air. You will marvel at the floral handiwork of the Creator as you gaze upon the multitude of plants that are ‘arrayed in a beauty that more than matches the glory of King Solomon.’—Matt. 6:28, 29.
Escobar, some fifty kilometers northwest of Buenos Aires, is where you must go on the right dates if you would enjoy this feast for the eyes and the nostrils. The soil in this area is very fertile and at the right altitude for cultivation of flowers. The township of Escobar has about 50,000 inhabitants, and here the largest Japanese settlement in Argentina is to be found. Of the more than 120 families of Japanese, 95 percent are engaged in floriculture.
In the region more than 400 establishments are engaged in raising flowers, and of these some 300 have greenhouses. And many flower farmers cultivate their plants in the open air. To gain some idea of the extent of this industry, consider these figures for the year 1969: 400 baskets of flowers arrived daily in Buenos Aires’ flower markets from Escobar. Not very much, you think? Well, each basket contains 30 or 40 packages of gladioli, with 24 flower stalks to each package; also it has 15 packages of carnations at 100 blooms per package; also 20 packages of roses with 48 units each. Measuring this commodity by the value in the market, this means 8 million pesos’ (some $22,860) worth per day.
Wonderful Floral Display
Yes, festival time is the best time to come to this city. And what a profusion of blooms are on display! Carnations, for example, so large that it would almost take both hands to hold one. They belong to the Sim variety, and come in reds, whites, pinks, and other delicate hues. Here is a variety having thin white stripes, and it looks as though they were awarded first prize this year.
And azaleas! Here is one that is so large it looks like a tree and is solid with blossoms. These, too, are in a variety of colors—white, pink, violet, coral, and even some with the two-tone effect.
Next come the roses. And why are the Japanese gentlemen examining this particular specimen so minutely, even bending down and looking underneath the petals and at the stem? Well, they are official judges for the festival, and it appears there are three factors that must be taken into account in judging flowers. First, the stem of the carnation or the rose should be stout enough to keep the flower erect when it opens completely. Then, the color is considered as to its purity or uniformity. Finally, the size of the bloom is taken into account.
Certainly the rose is well represented at this festival. Here are some that are intensely red, and over there is a most striking variety—orange colored. They are called Super Star. Then there are some with petals of more than one color. The yellow ones are called Buccaneer, and those others over there are known as Suspense.
Be sure to have a look at the strange and beautiful parasites clinging to the trunks of these trees. These are the orchids. They come in all sizes and varieties too. There are the dwarf orchids as well as these larger ones that drape the trees. Notice how perfectly formed the flower is, and so fresh and crisp looking.
There is so much to see here. For example, the cactus section, in which you see displayed a bewildering variety of geometrical forms—some spherical, some cylindrical, oval, conical, prismatic, and so on. And most of them are in bloom right now, which makes them most attractive. But one cannot spend too much time in any single section, for there are many other eye-catching beauties such as the cineraria, the gladiolus, chrysanthemums, tulips, sweet peas, and a host of others.
The Japanese Garden
A visit to this area would not be complete without viewing the Japanese Garden. The local municipality made a grant of the requisite land, and the Japanese community developed the garden as a gift to the Argentine people. It measures five thousand square meters and is artistically laid out as a living miniature of a Japanese landscape. It is of the classic type called Tsukiyama-Sansuri (mountain and water).
For adornment, stones were brought specially from Alta Gracia in the province of Córdoba, from La Toma in the province of San Luis, and from Olavarría in the province of Buenos Aires. Some of these are carved and some are just plain.
A group of prisoners from Sierra Chica were employed to build a typical Japanese stone bridge across the tiny lake that adds so much to the garden’s beauty. Nine stone lanterns were imported from Japan to enhance the classical effect. Altogether, some 3,000 persons worked on the project, and 250 different kinds of trees were planted. The cost is said to have been as high as 50 million pesos, which would be approximately $1,428,570.
Objective of the Festival
Before leaving this colorful festival one can visit the greenhouse, and there, with a bewildering variety to choose from, one can select and purchase a pot plant for the living room or the patio. Practically everyone leaves with one of these packages as a memento of an unforgettable display of color and beauty—a memento that will last a long time with proper care.
However, there is a reason for this annual festival, beyond the matter of selling a great quantity of plants. Funds are being collected for the purpose of establishing a school of gardeners and cultivators, a school in which they will try to develop new techniques for obtaining seeds and bulbs. This will do away gradually with the need to import these. Already, 2,500 hectares of land have been purchased for the school. When it is finally in operation, it is expected that this festival will be able to display an even grander variety of flowers and plants. Escobar will seek to maintain its title as Argentina’s “Flower City.”