KARACHI: With seasonal and perennial flowers and all plants blooming in favourable weather, it was a befitting celebration of spring as the 75th Annual Pakistan Flower Show 2026, organised by the Horticulture Society of Pakistan (HSP), commenced at the A.K. Khan Park at Seaview on Thursday.

The diamond jubilee of the biggest flower show of the country, which has grown as Pakistan grew, is a landmark occasion.

Up on the big screen, the HSP shared many historical pictures of the initial flower shows, especially the very first one held in 1950 at Gandhi Gardens (now the Zoological Gardens) with the legendary horticulturist A.K. Khan, also known as ‘Baba-i-Baghbani Pakistan [father of horticulture in Pakistan]’. A.K. Khan founded the Pakistan Agriculture Society in 1948 but renamed it later as the ‘Horticulture Society of Pakistan’.

Remembering A.K. Khan, Qudsia Akbar, the host at the prize distribution ceremony, lauded the efforts of his family, especially his youngest son Salman Khan, who now holds the torch that his father had lit. “Salman is the backbone of the HSP but he insists on remaining in the background as he refuses to hold any post within the organisation,” she said.

‘Baba-i-Baghbani’ A.K. Khan remembered at eponymous venue

Speaking on the occasion, HSP president Naushaba Khalil Sattar said that the HSP was “a voluntary organisation that promoted horticulture, improved the environment and made the city green”.

She also said that they have grown and expanded over these years. They have also branched out in the form of some 14 affiliated clubs and societies, such as the Ladies Horticulture Club, Amateur Gardeners Club, The Tree Club, Cactus and Succulent Society of Pakistan, Pakistan Bonsai Society, Floral Art Society of Pakistan’s Gardenia Chapter, Jasmine Chapter, Indus Sogetsu Study Group and Ikebana International Karachi Chapter.

“The HSP office which has been built on a piece of land leased by the Defence Housing Authority, holds lectures, gardening classes, etc, besides offering free technical advice and help to its members,” she added.

The chief guest, Senator Javed Jabbar, also applauded the HSP’s efforts of “serving nature selflessly with consistency, sincerity and devotion” in the face of adversity where farmlands are destroyed to make way for housing societies. Later, he gave away shields to all the winners of HSP competitions for the best gardens of residences, companies, educational institutions, mosques, parks and even roadside walks.

The Flower Show itself comprised rows of stalls representing nurseries with all kinds of local and imported plants which were a source of attraction for many. There were also stalls selling flower pots and garden furniture along with stalls that dealt in pesticides and fertilisers to help grow healthier plants. For the very first time, the Karachi University Garden Department also had its presence at the Flower Show.

The Ladies Horticulture Club had a ‘Garden of the Future’, which showed the effects of climate change with a dry stream lined with plants that can survive on little water, as explained by the Club’s President Durdana Soomro, who was also very proud of their vertical garden. Also in one corner of the stall there was a rush for purchasing the bottled organic jams, jellies, marmalade and pickles made by Fathiya Abdul Qadir, a senior member of the Club, who grows all fruits and vegetables used in the preserves in her home garden.

Among the other societies, the Indus Sogetsu Study Group stall had done something very interesting by selecting pictures or paintings which they depicted through an arrangement of leaves and flowers. Salima Feroz, the president of Indus Sogetsu Study Group, had selected a painting by artist Tariq Saadat from Lahore about Basant, which her colourful arrangement complimented. A group member, Salma Ansari, had also taken a picture of the burning Gul Tower to pay tribute to the shopping plaza that completely burned down last month, resulting in huge loss to life and property. She had painted cactus to show the fire and she used dried woody Buddha tree seed pods with the nuts to show treasures going up in flames.

There was also the Gardenia Society with its huge arrangements. President of the Society, Fehmida Hashmi, said that their pavilion and the arrangements there were based on the theme of ‘Nature Unfolds’. Each arrangement portrayed a story in itself. Shahimah Sayeed’s arrangements, which looked like complete forests or the seabed, deserve special mention here.

The 75th Annual Pakistan Flower Show 2026, which concludes on Sunday, also has Friday reserved for students, who can enter the Show free of cost on the day.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2026