Even as big weekends go, this is a big weekend. The Enid A. Haupt Conservatory has gone through a complete metamorphosis over the past several weeks, with a dedicated team of horticulturists primping and preening a luxurious display thousands of orchids strong. As of tomorrow, Patrick Blanc’s careful designs will finally come to light for our guests to enjoy.

Beginning tomorrow, March 3, the doors of the tenth annual Orchid Show (yes, an entire decade) swing open to reveal the French master’s creations to the world. Everyone in New York should see this! Visit the Garden to find yourself surrounded by the artful flowers of the tropics, a virtual architecture of exotic leaves, petals, and vines swirling in and amongst each other. The diversity of orchids that now floods the space in sprays of color is impressive on its own, but the arrangement is simply breathtaking.
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Joyce H. Newman is the editor of Consumer Reports’ GreenerChoices.org, and has been a docent 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.
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As we near the 10th anniversary opening of the NYBG‘s yearly Orchid Show, we begin looking at the work of French designer Patrick Blanc, the mind behind the elegant and awe-inspiring living architecture being raised for this year’s exhibition. Of course, his efforts in the botanical field extend well beyond the complex aesthetics of his world-famous “green wall” creations. As one of the most renowned plant hunters to have traveled abroad, his global gallivanting yields many an interesting result for the scientific community.

2011 brought with it an important milestone for Dr. Blanc: a plant named in his honor. Previous adventures into the Philippines had yielded rumors of an elusive, undescribed foliage growing in the jungles there, a plant that the local population had no name for. With a team of fellow researchers and a group of field guides, he set off on a journey to the sweltering jungles of the island province of Palawan to locate it, and discovered what was proven to be a begonia. Blanc’s background as a specialist in understory rainforest plants made this a particularly exciting discovery for the group.
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Sonia Uyterhoeven is the NYBG’s Gardener for Public Education.

It turns out that the French botanist and designer, Patrick Blanc, is in fact very green. If you are unaware of his reputation as “The Green Man,” the eccentric eco-artist and designer sports bright green hair, and electric green nail polish painted on a long, curvy thumb nail.

With a strong background in botany under his belt, Blanc has explored the natural world while traveling extensively throughout the tropics. Through his travels he has paid particular attention to how plants situate themselves in their native environments–tangling and twisting amongst other species, climbing over each other, and colonizing small territories in diverse communities.

Blanc has paired his fascination with plants and their natural communities with new technologies, and is now one of the leaders in the field of vertical gardening, or “living walls.” In this day and age when space is at a premium–particularly in urban environments–vertical gardening is quite literally a breath of fresh air.
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It won’t be long now. Our Caribbean Garden is moving right along, and already preparations have begun for our next exhibition. It’s not a haphazard process that brings us to these moments, either–everything that springs to life in our Conservatory and elsewhere is the product of months (if not years) of careful planning. In the case of this year’s Orchid Show (our tenth!), one man’s lifelong passion will make its mark on the NYBG.

“Eccentric” comes to mind when considering Patrick Blanc. What other adjective sticks so well? Clover-green hair and patent emerald shoes, a matching Aloha shirt and vintage jacket; Patrick’s a walking canvas for his profession. As a renowned botanist, plant hunter, and designer, Blanc makes his mark on the world of landscape design with grandiose ideas of verticality and hanging foliage–not just from baskets or trellises but from the very walls themselves. Gravity is no constraint worth considering for this worldly creative.
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A few of our more sleep-deprived officemates are firmly convinced that this orchid looks like the Swedish Chef. And the more I stare, the more I’m inclined to hear “bork bork bork!” echoing in my head. Don’t forget that the 10th annual Orchid Show begins on March 3, at which point you can choose sides in the all-important argument of Muppet mimicry in person.

Paphiopedilum streathamense. — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

A behind-the-scenes glimpse into the ongoing efforts of the Orchid Show staff. Not that I’d give away too much this early on.

Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

The Garden is open today, Monday, for the last day of The Orchid Show: On Broadway. So get here before all the beautiful flowers become just another memory until next year.

Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

Tonight is your final chance to attend Orchid Evenings! So grab your date or a group of your friends and hop on the train to Botanical Garden Station for this special evening of cocktails and flowers.

Photo by Talisman Brolin

Just in time for Spring Break, the best of Broadway is making its way uptown to The New York Botanical Garden on Tuesday, April 19, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.!

In honor of The Orchid Show: On Broadway, members of Broadway’s most popular shows have created unique interactive programming exclusively for the Garden!

Look for these participants and activities at the locations below in the Adventure Garden:

- Broadway Green Alliance – At the Entrance
Bring your plastic bags to help the Broadway Green Alliance keep plastic bags out of neighborhood trees (and out of landfills) and bring attention to this issue.

- Million Dollar Quartet – At the Stumps
Play Million Dollar Quartet’s version of pin the tail-on-the-donkey, “Pin the guitar on Elvis.”

- Billy Elliot – In the Plaza
The Ballet Girls from the cast of Billy Elliot conduct a ballet dance clinic where you can learn a portion of the number “Shine” from the production.

- Priscilla Queen of the Desert – Near the Waterfall
Priscilla Queen of the Desert will be doing diva-liscious flower and plant face painting.

- Catch Me If You Can – In Sun Central
Fly into the Catch Me if You Can booth to learn how to make the perfect origami airplane.

- RAIN: A Tribute to the Beatles – On Lifecycle Lane
Test your luck in the RAIN Strawberry Fields Memory game for the chance to win tickets to the show and other great
prizes

- The Addams Family – In Sun Central
It’s spooky good fun with The Addams Family’s eyeball toss.

- Baby It’s You – At the Stumps
Play “name that tune” to be entered into a drawing to win tickets to the show.

- Davenport Theatrical/Be A Broadway Star Board Game – Near Plant Part Paradise
Try your hand at this brand new board game.

- Lombardi – In Sun Central
Play the Football Toss to win great prizes.

- Wonderland!, Sister Act, and Memphis – Near the Waterfall
Enjoy coloring, friendship games and temporary tattoos.

- Broadway Partners – Near Boulders
Learn more about these exciting shows:

- Jersey Boys
- How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
- Wicked
- Born Yesterday
- La Cage Aux Folles
- Chicago
- Mamma Mia