Lalbagh designer's great granddaughter to attend flower show

Krumbiegel memory

This year’s Republic Day flower show at Lalbagh will have a special guest. Alyia Phelps-Gardiner, great granddaughter of botanist Gustav Hermann Krumbiegel who earned the title 'Garden City' for Bengaluru, is visiting the city for the first time.

Alyia's grandmother Hilda is the eldest daughter of GH Krumbiegel, a renowned botanist, horticulturist and landscapist who served princely state of Mysore from 1908 to 1932. 

Alyia, a  London-based interior designer, says “I have never been to Bangalore but have been transported there with my grandmother when she would tell me wonderful stories and I could imagine.” Alyia will be in Bengaluru from January 15 to January 27 to get first hand knowledge of his great grandfather's achievements.

Tracing the descendants of Krumbiegel has been a sort of adventure for the German authorities said S Narayanswamy, who has done extensive research on Krumbiegel's contribution to the city.

Staff at Pillnitz Palace and Park in Dresden, Germany, wanted to have the Krumbiegel's descendants at the exhibition marking his 150th birth anniversary. Richard Ward, advisory editor of the Kew Guild  put an ad in gowestlondon.co.uk  appealing for Krumbiegel's descendants in August 2015.

Luckily, while googling about her great grandfather Alyia came across the ad and she rang up Richard Ward the next day.  Later,  she attended the event organised at Pillnitz Palace in Dresden in June 2016 and met Narayanswamy who delivered a lecture on Krumbiegel's contribution to make Bengaluru, a ‘Garden City’. The same year in January Lalbagh had paid floral tribute to GH Krumbiegel during Republic Day flower show.

Now, the Mythic Society, of which Krumbiegel was founder-treasurer, has organized an interaction on Krumbiegel and his works on January 16. The descendants of two former Directors of Horticulture- H C Javaraya and Dr M H Mari Gowda will meet Alyia at the event.  The common link for all of them is-   Krumbiegel, Javaraya and Mari Gowda are 'Kewites' - alumni of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.