AboutOrchids

Most people don’t think of orchids when they think of Montana, but Missoula’s Botanica, Ltd. is a great place for orchids. Brenda Oviatt and Bill Nerison have turned their hobby into a business which is devoted to growing endangered species. They specialize in the African Angraecoid family, which includes threatened varieties like Darwin’s Orchid, Angraecum florentum, Jumellea, and Oeoniella.

Oxford Botanic Garden has great orchids, and many other impressive plants, too. The photos in this post include a couple of orchids, more from the glasshouses, and sights from the surrounding grounds. The glasshouses feature fantastic collections of exotic tropical flowers, carnivorous plants, desert plants, and more.

Outdoors, the gardens offer ample winter interest, with Oxford’s historic architecture as the backdrop. During our visit, red penstemon flowers and brilliant purple berries brightened a chilly, gray December day. Lively fountains and colorful goldfish animated the garden. Bare trees, having already shed their leaves, showed off their majestic branch structures. Despite the cool weather, there was plenty to enjoy in this amazing garden.

London’s Kew Gardens is home to the Temperate House, the world’s largest Victorian glasshouse. It was closed for renovations for five years, and reopened in 2018. The skilled staff at Kew have regrown its lush greenery, and it’s full of remarkable plants. During my visit there in early December, I found a couple of Cymbidiums in bloom. One was a great, colorful species, Cymbidium tracyanum, known for big flowers with dramatic spots and stripes.

The Temperate House features plants that grow in mild climates around the world. The 628 foot (191 m) long structure is divided into five sections. There’s a large central area, which includes an upper walkway with great views. This space connects to two smaller octagonal glasshouses, which in turn connect to two medium-sized rectangular structures. Many of the 10,000 plants inside are rare and endangered in their native habitats. Kew works to conserve these species, and the Temperate House is essential to battling extinction.

Now that the building has been open to the public for over a year and a half, its plantings are maturing, and reaching for the sky. Comparing my photos to Dave’s pictures from almost a year ago, it’s easy to see that the forest canopy is growing taller and denser. As a refuge for rare plants, and a showcase for Kew’s botanical wonders, the Temperate House has a bright future.

RHS Garden Wisley doesn’t have Kew Gardens’ international reputation, or Oxford Botanic Garden’s ancient pedigree, but it does have plenty of amazing orchids. Wisley is located south of London in Surrey County. When Dave and I visited in early December, its large Glasshouse featured lots of elegant Lady Slippers, dazzling Stanhopeas, and other orchids in bloom.

In addition to the Glasshouse displays, we stumbled on orchids in one of the small Alpine Houses. The last two photos in this post show a delightful Pterostylis truncata, an Australian Greenhood species, flowering in the cooler temps.  It’s a good reminder that orchids may turn up in unexpected places.

Wisley has lots more than its glasshouses. Much of the garden was dormant, but it surely must be spectacular during the growing season. Dating to 1878, Wisley covers 240 acres (97 hectares.) I’ll have another post soon about some of the winter interest and more floral highlights. There are multiple public transportation options from London to the garden, some in as little as 45 minutes. Wisley contains several cafes and restaurants onsite, making it easy to spend the day there.

These lengthy exhibits spotlight prized plants, and offer warm, tropical escapes from winter’s chill. All of the events listed below run through Valentine’s Day and beyond.

January 4 – February 24
Find The Spirit of Orchids at Filoli Historic House & Garden in Woodside, California, south of San Francisco. The famous Filoli mansion hosts orchid displays and Chinese orchid art by Ming Lee. Photos from last year’s event hint at this year’s botanical riches.

January 9 – February 16
Denver Botanic Gardens’ Orchid Showcase features orchids in the Orangery and Marnie’s Pavilion. Visitors can enter three of their pictures in the Photo Contest, with prizes including orchid plants and gift cards.

January 18 – March 1
Orchid Mania takes over at Cleveland Botanical Garden. Admission is free for garden members.

January 18 – March 2
Longwood Gardens presents an Orchid Extravaganza, which “will create an indoor paradise of whimsy and warmth.” The gardens are located in Kennett Square, outside of Philadelphia. Buy tickets early before they sell out.

January 18 – March 8
Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania stages an Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Show: Out of This World. Enjoy otherworldly orchids and incredible tropical bonsai trees. Displays will include a 7 foot (2.1 m) tall orchid rocket, and the event will include educational programs on the weekends.

Welcome the 2020’s with orchids! All of January’s events are excellent opportunities to enjoy amazing flowers, take photos, talk to orchid experts, and buy plants. It’s a great recipe for a happy new year.

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Legendary American artist Georgia O’Keeffe painted extraordinary flowers, including orchids. The Winston-Salem Journal analyzes two of her portrayals of Cattleya hybrids. The first, Narcissa’s Last Orchid, 1940,  is depicted realistically. The second, An Orchid, 1941, is more abstract. Both paintings focus on the frilly flower lips. Orchid expert Arthur Chadwick ponders which varieties inspired these works. At the time, Cattleyas were popular as corsages. To learn more, check out the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.

Celebrate today’s solstice with more photos from my recent visit to Kew Gardens in London. These pictures are all from the Princess of Wales Conservatory, which is one of several large glasshouses at Kew. They include a few orchids, some brilliantly colorful bromeliads, and other tropical plants.

The conservatory features separate tropical and temperate zones for rainforest plants, ferns, desert plants, carnivorous plants, and, of course, orchids. It boasts incredible displays at any time of year, and offers a wonderfully warm respite from winter’s chill at this time of year.

The UK’s oldest botanical garden has plenty for orchid lovers to enjoy. Oxford Botanic Garden & Arboretum dates to 1621, making it older than London’s Chelsea Physic Garden (founded 1673) and Kew Gardens (founded 1759.) Oxford’s garden covers 4.5 acres (1.8 hectares,) and grows over 6000 different plant species.

The garden includes seven adjacent glasshouses with different growing conditions. Several of the greenhouses contain orchids, including the Fernery, Tropical Lily House, Palm House, and Insectivorous House. All of them are packed with fascinating plants. The flowers in this post are all orchids, except for the colorful bromeliads at the end of the second row of photos.

Oxford Botanic Garden is part of the University of Oxford, one of the oldest universities in the world, founded over 900 years ago. It was a famous institution long before scenes from the Harry Potter films were shot there, lending its Gothic spires and medieval architecture to Hogwarts. The botanic garden inspired parts of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and also JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings stories. Oxford is an easy train ride from London, making it an ideal day trip.

In London’s December chill, it’s great to warm up by stepping into one of the glasshouses at Kew Gardens. I was fortunate to visit last week, and enjoyed lots of warmth and tropical beauty. These photos show some of the orchids on display in the Princess of Wales Conservatory.

The vast orchid family reliably offers blooms at any time of year, even early December. In fact, many orchid varieties flower during dormant periods. This usually corresponds to winter months, when their blooms are less likely to be damaged by heavy rains, which are typical of their growing seasons. With one of the most extensive botanical collections on the planet, the expert growers at Kew can put on impressive orchid displays all year long. If you’re anywhere near London, beat back the winter blues with a visit. It warms me up just thinking about it.