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There is no better way to take a break from the blistering cold and dreary winter weather than to spend some time at the NY Botanical Gardens where the glorious 12th Annual Orchid Show is in full swing. The show entitled “Key West Contemporary” takes its inspiration, music, and floral design themes from a renown Floridian landscape architect, Raymond Jungles.
This year the thousands of orchids, some from the NYBG permanent collection and others shipped in from global suppliers, were interspersed with various companion plants. Some of these native to Florida (i.e. maidenhair ferns, staghorn ferns, palms) were combined with pansy orchids, Vandas, phalaenopsis, and some “Romantic Fantasy” orchids (wonderful scent) and many others to create the magnificent scenes of beauty, quietude, wonder, and fun throughout sections of the NYBG exhibition greenhouses.
The contemporary architectural features i.e. flower walls, waterfalls, pergolas, their vibrant colors and the lively music provide the finishing touches to create whimsical playfulness. The combination of colors, orchid display arrangements, water auras, and music uplift the senses and promise to nullify the frozen snow scene right outside the windows of the Enid Haupt Conservatory. The orchids promise spring will soon be here.
The show is a delight to the senses and also a learning experience which takes one out of winter’s inconvenient chaos into the ordered diversity of this magnificent plant family orchidaceae. that comes in every shape, size, color, and variety one might imagine. And then the family surprises you! Orchids are tenacious and adaptable survivors and great teachers about plant diversity.
From them botanists, researchers, scientists, and others are learning about bio diversity and finding answers from the orchid family and transposing their findings to their study of other plant families. Orchids may be found in all global climes except Antarctica. There are some 30,000 orchid species and five times as many man-made species according to Marc Hachadourianm orchid collection curator at the NY Botanical Gardens.
The 12th Annual Orchid Show at the NYBG runs from March 1st through April 21st. There are orchid evenings where one may enjoy a drink and saunter through the orchid displays experiencing their mystery, enchantment and beauty in the lush tropical setting at night.
