Ooty: In the annals of the genesis of Nilgiris emerging a tourist resort and home for the British-type garden culture, John Sullivan's role is unique and stands out as a beacon of this hill district.
Revered as the founder of 'Modern Nilgiris', Mr. Sullivan just changed the face and fate of Nilgiris when he landed in the hills way back in 1819 as collector of Coimbatore. Then Nilgiris was a part of Coimbatore.
Rest of his efforts that led to the development of 'Modern Nilgiris', is history.
When the grateful hearts in Nilgiris celebrate the bicentenary of modern Nilgiris this year, the bloom which has just begun at the “Rose Sullivan” plant, a new rose variety that was planted in the Government Rose Garden(GRG) in January as part of the 200 new varieties planted then, is making itself an extraordinary bloom this summer to pay tribute to John Sullivan in the form of rose. The “Rose Sullivan” with its brilliant pink colour is the new rose charmer.
It is pertinent to note that the hill veteran Sri Dharmalingam Venugopal, director of Nilgiris Documentation Centre, took pioneering efforts to plant a new rose variety in the name of John Sullivan to honour him at the bicentenary of Modern Nilgiris. The new rose variety has been donated by M.S. Viraraghavan, a leading horticulturist and a rose breeder with more than 100 new varieties of roses registered in his name.
