IN FULL BLOOM: A florist displays the Olympic bouquet that will be presented to medallists

The Olympic Games are finally here and Beijing is dressing up for the occasion with 40 million pots of flowers bursting into bloom across the city. The colorful display is the culmination of years of work announced by the Beijing Bureau of Parks and Woods, intended to decorate the city with flowers.

Sweltering August is not the natural blooming season for many flowers in Beijing, so science has been used to lend a hand. In 2003, a core technology research group was set up to make the Beijing Olympics green and pretty. The group test- planted imported flowers each August.

"In the early morning every day, we climbed up to measure the height of the seedlings, took pictures and made notes. We observed their growth in a controlled environment, so as to tell how well they could resist high temperatures and humidity. Then we selected the best species from them," said Yu Yanyan. Yu was a fresh graduate from the Horticulture Department of China Agriculture University, and is now director of the Species Technology Department of the Flower Research Institute of Beijing Flowers and Trees Corp.

"We want to trick the flowers into thinking that this is the right time for them to open their petals," Yu said. She took chrysanthemums as an example. "We control the schedule of the flowers by manipulating their living environment. In the spring, we use sunlight to simulate summer, so when summer comes, the plants mistake it for autumn, and hurry to bloom. We also have other tricks to fool the flowers."

Those tricks include cross breeding, changing the planting time and transplanting.

To be selected for the Olympics, flowers not only have to score high technically, but also artistically. "We cannot spruce each flower after they bloom, so we have to do more work beforehand to make sure we get the best shape," said Yu.

Last year, the Olympic flower finalists were chosen and put into mass production. Their shapes dictate whether they will be placed around trees, inside borders, or to be put in bouquets to be presented to medallists.

The bouquet that will be presented at Olympic award ceremonies is nicknamed "booming." These flowers are selected from four flower competitions.

"The flower that will play the leading role is the Chinese red rose, a flower species first cultivated by the Chinese people. As red is propitious in Chinese tradition, red Chinese roses are suitable to convey the hospitality of the Chinese people," said Lin Fengjun, Executive General Manager of the Olympic Flowers Delivery Center.

"The remaining five flowers that will play a supporting role all have unique Chinese characteristics. They represent friendship, unity and fairness, and bless the Olympic Games with great success."

"The supporting flowers all have golden brims, to match the color of the gold medal," explained Wang Suizhi, a florist. In the boutique, there are nine Chinese red roses, because nine is the biggest and the most honorable number in Chinese tradition. Six represents smoothness, so all the supporting plants come in batches of six flowers, bunches, or with six leaves.

There are strict requirements on the shape, size and the color scheme of each bouquet. For example, each bunch should look like a pyramid, with a height of 40 cm. The leading and supporting flowers should be compatible. The petals must not fall off easily and its branches or leaves must not prick. "The bouquets should be so standardized that they look like they were all prepared by one person," Wang said.

A total of 6,000 bouquets will be presented at the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games. Their journey from the field to the hands of the Olympic heroes should take no longer than six to eight hours. After a bouquet is created, it is refrigerated so that it will look fresh when presented to the medallist. The delivery process is strictly moderated, and each bouquet will be assigned an ID number so that the entire delivery process can be tracked.