Step into an indoor Chinese strolling garden at the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Orchid Show, presented by Wells Fargo Advisors. The much-anticipated Orchid Show offers visitors the once-a-year opportunity to see an incredible display of 800 blooming orchids from the Garden’s renowned collection. Stroll through the blossoming landscape of fragrant blooms and Chinese-themed accents Saturday, Jan. 28 through Sunday, Mar. 25, 2012 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Show admission is $5, in addition to regular Garden admission. Visit www.mobot.org to learn more.
Vanilla PlanifoliaSelections from one of the nation’s largest collections of orchids are featured in the two-month-long show. Plants are rotated in and out of the display as the weeks progress to assure the freshest blooms and offer rare glimpses of varieties not often seen by the public.
“Each year visitors will see something different because not all orchids bloom at exactly the same time,” said Babs Wagner, the Garden’s orchid grower for 16 years. “This provides the opportunity to visit several times and see something different at each point during the show’s two-month run. The Garden’s collection is very diverse and consists of orchids of all colors and sizes. I love having the chance to show off our amazing plants!”
The 2012 Orchid Show celebrates the Garden’s “Year of China” and the 25th year of work on the Flora of China project. Pass through a replica of the Moon Gate (the iconic, rounded entrance to the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Grigg Nanjing Friendship Garden) to enter a tropical setting of lush greenery infused with Chinese-themed accents. Discover water features, small stone lanterns and other statuary. Bright silk lanterns swaying overhead add stunning pops of color. Bamboo shoots are shaped into artistic arrangements providing texture and elevation. Replicas of a small stone footbridge and a stone pagoda are nestled in the moss-covered, orchid-filled flower beds.
Orchids are displayed as they would be found in their natural habitats, with terrestrial orchids at ground level and epiphytic orchids suspended at eye level atop tree branches.
Several hundred tropical plants, including bamboo palms (Chamaedorea seifrizii), heavenly bamboo nandina (Nandina domestica) and assorted ferns help fill the scene.
The Missouri Botanical Garden is located at 4344 Shaw Blvd. in south St. Louis. For general Garden information, visit www.mobot.org or call (314) 577?5100 (toll-free, 1?800?642?8842). Follow the Garden on Facebook and Twitter at www.facebook.com/missouribotanicalgarden and http://twitter.com/mobotnews.