It is only natural to be curious about a flower that blooms once every few years, and then only briefly. The "night queen", or "nishipadma", is white, with a sweet, enchanting scent, and is known as a symbol of purity, serenity and good fortune.

It reveals its beauty in the dark of night and fades before morning, and people wait years for a single bloom. In Bangladesh the night queen is regarded as a rare flower.

On Thursday (7 October) night, this rare night queen bloomed in the rooftop garden of advocate Roushan Ara Begum's home near Bhojeshwar Pilot Mor in Naria upazila, Shariatpur.

Roushan Ara is a lawyer by profession and spends most of her time busy with social work. She has also long served as chairman of the Shariatpur district unit of the Jatiya Mohila Sangstha. Despite being so busy, she has a great passion for gardening, and it was in her garden that the night queen bloomed.

Advocate Roushan Ara said that thirty years ago she brought two leafy seedlings from Khulna through a relative. She planted them in pots on the roof and tended them for a long time. After waiting about seven years, the long-awaited night queen bloomed on the plant for the first time. Since then it has flowered every two to four years. She has given seedlings from her plant to many people, and the plant is now more than thirty years old.

"The first flower bloomed about seven years after planting," she said. "When the flowers bloom, there is a festive mood at home. Relatives and neighbours come to see them, and the whole house is filled with the scent. Every time they bloom, we take photos."

A relative of Roushan Ara who came from far away said: "I had heard stories about the night queen but never had the chance to see one. As soon as I heard at night, I came to see it. I really enjoyed seeing the flower."

Source: Dhaka Tribune. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.