Orchid Show: Going Up!

Posted in Exhibitions, The Orchid Show on March 2 2012, by Joyce Newman

Joyce H. Newman is the editor of Consumer Reports’ GreenerChoices.org, and has been a Tour Guide with The New York Botanical Garden for the past six years.

Vertical walls of orchids, mosses, and other plants are going up–straight up–for the annual Orchid Show in the Enid A.Haupt Conservatory. Even after ten years, it’s like no other orchid show we have ever seen. Thousands of plants are being suspended on towering, grid-like structures that surround the walkways. We experienced a whole new way of seeing and appreciating the flowers and colors in a kind of woven hanging tapestry. Surely this show will give new meaning to the term “air plants”–a term often applied to orchids and other epiphytes.

While we were on our tour of the show, many of its installations were actually still under construction. So we got to go behind the scenes, watching garden staff climbing ladders and wielding heavy tools. Those walls which were still bare were being wired for plants to come.

The show’s highly acclaimed French designer, Patrick Blanc, built his own aquarium as a teenager, using plants in the tank to filter the water. The story goes that he fell in love with the plants much more than the fish. And the rest is history, for he has gone on to build hundreds of  “hanging gardens” around the world.

Learning about the work and knowledge that goes into these high-climbing vertical gardens is as simple as joining us for one of our Tour Guide-led tours, where our expert volunteers will provide an in-depth look at the rare orchid specimens that go into each installation. Formal tours will be held Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 3 p.m. in the Conservatory’s Palms of the World Gallery, while Tour Guides will also be available to answer questions on Saturdays and Sundays. And for those who wish to hear from the inspiration himself, Patrick Blanc will be speaking at the NYBG this Saturday, March 3, at 2 p.m. The show opens to the public the same day and will continue through April 22.

For more information on lectures and tours held during the Orchid Show, see our program schedule. And don’t forget to reserve your tickets!