Amid the capital's rush, traffic jams and concrete jungle, a green dreamland seems to have sprung up. With rows of flowering, fruit, forest and ornamental plants, the ground beside the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar has become a meeting place for nature lovers. As the month-long National Tree Fair 2026 reaches its final stage, the crowds of visitors and buyers have grown. People of all ages come every day with their families, both to buy plants and to spend some time close to nature.

The fair began on 9 July and runs until 9 August. The closer it gets to the end, the livelier it becomes, with the stalls busy from morning until night. Some visitors are looking for fruit saplings suited to rooftop gardens, others are choosing colourful croton or flowering plants to decorate their homes, and many simply wander from stall to stall to spend time among the greenery. A wide range of local and foreign species is on show, including flowering, fruit and forest trees as well as many ornamental and rare saplings.

Foreign varieties such as rambutan, persimmon, Ajwa date, Pakistani pomegranate and saplings of various popular mango varieties have become a particular focus of interest. The stalls are noticeably crowded; some buy after asking the price, while others gather information for future planting. Demand is highest for fruit trees suited to rooftop gardens and for ornamental house plants.

But the fair is not just about shopping; for many it has become an important place for recreation. Visitors stroll through the green surroundings of each nursery, looking at plants, taking photos and recording videos, and people of all ages are busy taking selfies and group photos for social media. Children in particular are thrilled to see the different species up close.

Another big attraction is a special bamboo nursery. Beyond the usual flower and fruit saplings, its collection of local and foreign bamboo species is pulling in curious visitors. Its most unusual offering is bamboo leaf tea: it is the only stall at the fair where visitors can taste it. The tree fair is not only a place to buy and sell plants but also a festival of love for nature, environmental awareness and the commitment to a green Bangladesh, and in this time of rapid urbanisation it is encouraging people to return to trees.

One visitor was carrying a bag full of flower saplings and talking to a nursery representative about buying more. He was Moinul Islam, a salaried employee who lives in Dhaka's Bashundhara area. Out of love for nature and as a hobby, he has built a flower garden on his rooftop with more than 300 local and foreign plants, mostly cacti and adeniums. "I try to come to the tree fair every year. You get many kinds of local and foreign plants in one place, so it is a good chance to add to the collection. This time I bought plants worth Tk 20,000, mainly orchid and air-plant saplings," he said.

Alamin, also a salaried employee, came from the Badda area with a companion to look around the nurseries and buy saplings for his rooftop garden. "I always like coming to the tree fair because almost every kind of local and foreign plant is available in one place, under one roof, and you can learn about new plants too. This time I plan to buy partin, a local hybrid apple and terrarium plants. But prices seem a bit higher this year," he said.

Describing how his garden began, he said: "In 2016 I started keeping fish in an aquarium as a hobby. When that did not work out, I thought of doing something new. At first I planted a guava and a jujube tree on the roof, and my mother looked after them. Gradually my love of plants grew, and at one point I built a whole rooftop garden. So whenever I get the chance, I collect new plants."

University student Faisal was visiting the National Tree Fair for the first time, having come with his mother from Sector 18 in Uttara. "This is my first time at the National Tree Fair. I had never seen so many kinds of plants in one place. I really liked the atmosphere. Our rooftop and balcony are small, so we grow different plants there. This time I bought mango, malta, guava and bay leaf saplings," he said.

Crowds of buyers and visitors build steadily in the afternoon compared with other times of day, as plant lovers, families and visitors of all ages fill the fairground.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.