AboutOrchids

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.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports on saving the Sunshine Diuris, a rare and delicious Australian orchid species. Diuris fragrantissima is also known as Snow in the Paddocks. Once common in grasslands around Melbourne, this species’ tubers were a favorite food source for Aboriginal peoples. It was so plentiful that European settlers picked its flowers by the armfuls for its sweet fragrance. But then habitat destruction, urbanization, and livestock grazing reduced its vast populations, until it was feared to be extinct. Fortunately a small patch survived, and was fenced off for protection. Now, scientists are using lab-grown plants to reestablish wild populations. Ecologist John Bradford, who is one of the people working to save the Sunshine Diuris, says that the orchid is a link with past landscapes and past peoples. “It’s a link, too, with the people who have cared for this place over the past 60 years. We pushed back against a billion-dollar project. Some things are more important than money.”

This is always the slowest month of the year for orchid events, but you can still find activities on several continents listed below. Many orchid societies have holiday parties and auctions, so check with your local group for more.

One post from Singapore’s National Orchid Garden certainly wasn’t enough, and here are more photos to prove it. With so many brilliant, tropical varieties growing outdoors in the sunshine, Dave took lots of amazing pictures. Colorful Vandas, Dendrobiums, Cattleyas, and Renantheras all competed for his attention.

The blooms include many historic hybrids. Some have won awards and become important in the cut-flower trade. Others have been named for world leaders and celebrities. These human-made crosses have helped Singapore create a successful orchid industry. The plants continue to be used to parent new hybrids, with the most exceptional results brought to the public. Singapore’s clear mastery of the art and science of orchids shines at the National Orchid Garden.