A boy shows a pot of flowers in the autumn horticulture expo in Giza, Egypt, on Nov. 9, 2019. Colorful flowers, ornamental plants, shrubs, seedlings, vases and landscape accessories have been charmingly displayed by dozens of exhibitors in Egypt's first autumn horticulture expo that has kicked off on Saturday at the yard of the Agricultural Museum in Giza, near the capital Cairo, after 30 years of absence. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)
by Mahmoud Fouly
CAIRO, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- Colorful flowers, ornamental plants, shrubs, seedlings, vases and landscape accessories have been charmingly displayed by dozens of exhibitors in Egypt's first autumn horticulture expo that has kicked off on Saturday at the yard of the Agricultural Museum in Giza, near the capital Cairo, after 30 years of absence.
At least 170 exhibitors, including professional florists and landscapers, take part in the 45-day "Autumn Flower Exhibition" held on an area of about 18,000 square meters for the first time at the Agricultural Museum, as it used to be held in other gardens before it halted in 1989.
Visitors have been touring through the lanes of the museum's massive garden while exhibitors displayed their fragrant and eye-catching products in adjacent open-air display areas on both sides.
Mohamed al-Sayyid, a manager at one of the exhibiting companies, said that the new horticulture expo provides greater chances for exhibitors to promote their products and attract more customers and importers, noting that his company exports rare flowers and shrubs to most Arab states.
"This new expo is very important for it is more like a warmup for the main annual spring horticultural fair at Giza's botanic garden in March," the exhibitor told Xinhua at his display yard.
He added that the company he works for has a German partner who helps export their agricultural products to Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, adding that the company is famous for producing geranium, euphorbia mili, colvillea racemosa, delonix regia and others.
Among the displayed horticultural products are cactuses and bamboos with various colors, shapes and sizes, as well as seedlings of different types of fruits and vegetables.
"I generally like horticulture expos. I've just bought a bamboo because it looks beautiful as an ornamental plant to be kept at home. It is also durable and doesn't need so much caretaking," said Duaa Saber, a university professor in her 30s.
Accompanied by his wife and little daughter, Rimon William, a young man in his early 30s, was taking a look at one of the display areas of lilies and red roses.
"I have recently started to be interested in flowers. I attended the spring flower fair in the botanic garden in March and this is the second fair to attend this year. I generally buy roses because my little daughter likes colorful things," William, who works for a construction company, said.
In the middle of the fair, at a large display area with several fountains, artificial waterfalls, garden benches and huge vases all around, a beautiful rock-like fountain in the center is pouring water in three rocky ditches.
"We are specialized in designing and producing landscaping accessories, trying to mix art with culture via landscaping. We always have new ideas and designs and sometimes we have customers who buy our designs and carry them out by themselves," Mansour Farrag, a partner in the landscaping company, told Xinhua.
The new autumn horticulture expo is not restricted to featuring horticultural products but it also includes other activities such as holding symposiums to raise people's awareness of how to take care of their plants and flowers.
One of the setups looks like a library as it displays only books on agriculture and horticulture, provided by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, which organizes the event.
The Autumn Flower Exhibition was inaugurated by Egypt's Minister of Agriculture Ezzeddin Abu-Steit, accompanied by Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Ali al-Moselhy.
Abu-Steit told reporters that the autumn flower fair will be regularly held every year to increase the number of annual horticulture exhibitions in Egypt to two main ones in autumn and spring.
He added that the exhibition also leads to developing the vast area of the museum's garden, which will increase the numbers of both visitors and exhibitors.
"We also need to cooperate with concerned authorities of some ministries to provide sufficient facilitations to horticultural producers to export their products and compete in the world markets," said the Egyptian minister.
