Verdun Blossoms

An Experimental floriculturist and a man ahead of his times in terms of conservation of natural resources were instrumental to the genesis of Verdun blossoms as early as 1969 over four decades ago.

Late Mr. Sethuratnam and Mrs. Sethuratnam were avid home garden enthusiasts collecting plants, seeds, cuttings and propagating them at the Verdun Estate bungalow garden. This extensive home garden has won the coveted “Best Home Garden” Awarded by the Shevaroy Planters Association many a time. By virtue of Verdun Blossom’s position within the confines of the historical Coffee Plantation, over a period of time, this Verdun Blossom became a treasure trove of plants and a feast for the naturalist’s eye. To date, it is regularly visited by students and professors from the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University as a research station for organically grown flowers and plants.

Verdun Blossoms though diversified in flora today, found its origin from a few Anthurium Andreanum (Anthurium) plants gifted to this couple by a friend. Through Crown Cuttings, Stem propagation, manual cross pollination and seed germination, from these few plants, what started off as a hobby grew into almost an acre of Anthuriums. Through book knowledge and practical experimentation, Late Mr. Sethuratnam was able to produce various shades of Anthurium some of which are unique to Verdun Blossoms. These flowers were sold as far as Delhi and as close as Bangalore. A firm believer in the philosophy that farmers produce needs to be sold at their door step, Late Mr. Sethuratnam ensured that his produce was sold in the same way.

As time went by as the demand for these plants were enormous from different parts of south India, he branched into the propagation of plants more than flowers. With a flourishing nursery growing different kinds of ornamental as well as floral plants today Verdun Blossoms has blossomed from Late Mr. S. Sethuratnam’ s dream to reality and continuing to grow in the literal sense.

Today Verdun Blossoms is a commercial Floriculture venture selling Flowers and Plants under the able leadership of Mr. Chidambararaja Sethuratnam. He has ensured that the cultivation practices are maintained. He has moved in further by facilitating floriculture enthusiast by supplying them the plant material and buying back the flower production.