Lodhi Garden kadamb grove: where to find it near the rose garden

Near Lodhi Garden’s rose garden, beyond a patch of overgrown grass, more than a dozen mature kadamb trees are in bloom. Their spherical flower heads range from fresh green buds to browning blooms as the monsoon progresses.

Akshay, a visitor from Gurugram, was among those looking for the trees after seeing photographs of the grove. The location can be easy to miss: trees near Sheesh Gumbad and the sloping football ground may look similar at first glance.

Kadamb trees can be identified by branches that extend sharply from the trunk, vertically cracked bark and cream-coloured, ball-shaped flowers. The blooms usually appear in August and September.

Kadamb has a place in north Indian poetry and is associated with Krishna and the Yamuna. In Subhadra Kumari Chauhan’s poem *Yeh Kadamb Ka Ped*, a child imagines climbing a kadamb beside the river to become Kanhaiya. Kadamb trees also grow in other Delhi public parks, including the memorial ghats by the Yamuna.