Forming of Chitral Horticultural Society

On 27 May 2014, a group of 57 keen horticulturist from Chitral district gathered at the PTDC motel Chitral at 10 am. We spent the day discussing gardening.

Chairman CHS message on inaugural function
I always felt that Chitrals culture is reflected in many ways, one of them is our keenness for flowers and gardening. Being remote and lacking resources has not hampered us Chitralis from developing a way of life that is special in many ways . In some ways it sets an aesthetic standard of living superior to what surrounding areas in Pakistan have pursued inspite of others having better access and link to the developed world.

Where ever you go in Chitral you see a passion for flowers amongst simple village folks. No home in Chitral is without flowers and many a chitrali will have one tucked in his pakol.
The climate of Chitral gives us a wonderful opportunity to propagate diverse variety of flowers and plants . Our climate is similar to England, most of Europe, parts of USA, Canada, China Japan and Newzeland thus giving us the opportunity to introduce a diverse variety of colours to Chitral. The famous Dawn Redwood tree that grows only in California has been successfully grown in Chitral so is the Glory tree, Ginkgo biloba and many other varieties.

In Chitral we have also started loosing out on old variety of flowers , disease came in with new plants , there is much to discuss .

Like any other Pakistani the struggle for education , health and better life has pushed us Chitrals into economic pursuits . In the process we interact with the rest of Pakistan but officials working in the district or visitors passing through do not get the opportunity to observe different aspects of our cultural and way of life . You thus miss out on understanding much of Chitral.

This is what we would like to share with you and realize there is much more we can learn from each other and the world. The Chitral Horticultureal Society can be a platform to further this cause.

We are a group of keen gardeners with no one presently sponsoring our activities. Our passion has brought us together on a platform to share , learn and enjoy. We have now formed a society with 57 local registered members . We will set up periodical meetings at different gardens to share our knowledge and expertise.

Our website will be made and  periodically updated to guide you so that you get to meet our members, know what they are doing and learn more.

We would love to have associate member from outside the district and the world at large. We will be keen to link with like minded Horticulture Societies and gardening forums around the world.

Maqsood ul Mulk
Chairman
Chitral Horticultural Society