In less than two weeks, a beloved annual exhibition returns to the Garden in a dramatic new form as The Orchid Show: Chandeliers. For its 13th year, The Orchid Show is taking over every gallery in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory with a series of hanging installations of living chandeliers. Check out the exclusive teaser trailer below for a first look at the hundreds of the many colorful and fragrant species that will be on display!
Our annual Orchid Show begins this weekend, carrying us off to the warmth and greenery of Key West. I myself have eaten hearts of palm in Key West, toured Ernest Hemingway’s home, and gone swimming and sunbathing, but I never took the time to stop and admire the island’s orchids. On the key, the Audubon House and Tropical Gardens combine history and nature for the avid naturalist, showcasing a one-acre garden full of native and exotic orchids.
Florida boasts a large and diverse population of orchids owing to its climate, which ranges from subtropical in the north to tropical in the south. These variations support temperate and tropical orchids, respectively. Many epiphytic orchids that colonize the southern portion of the state, including Key West, are indigenous to the Caribbean and southern tropical regions.
The Enid A. Haupt Conservatory is bustling with final preparations for the debut of The Orchid Show: Key West Contemporary this Saturday, March 1. Right now, rows and rows of orchids are patiently awaiting their final installation into our carefully arranged island landscape, a theme inspired by the designs of Key West’s own Raymond Jungles. While we wait, you can enjoy a peek behind the scenes in the Nolen Greenhouses, our staging area for nearly every NYBG exhibition.
Karen Daubmann, our Associate Vice President for Exhibitions, gives an overview of the orchids, as well as the myriad companion species that together will help transform the Conservatory into a modernist, Florida-style garden. It should be the sunny vacation we all need right about now!
It’s little more than a week ’til we throw the spotlight on The Orchid Show: Key West Contemporary. The Enid A. Haupt Conservatory is a flurry of activity. New installations—of display architecture, of flowers in bunches and bundles—are going up daily, and while Tropical Paradise continues through this Sunday, February 23, you can be sure you’ll see hints of the exhibition to come if you visit our famed glasshouse now. You might not catch any Hemingway lookalikes riding by on scooters just yet, but make no mistake: the Florida Keys are coming to New York on March 1!
Karen Daubmann, our Associate Vice President for Exhibitions, joined us in the Conservatory not long ago to catch us up on the show’s progress. She also gave us a little peek into the inspirations behind this year’s exhibition, including the reflecting pools and modernist pergolas of the Susan Henshaw Jones Garden down in Key West. We’ll have more “Making Of” videos like this one in the coming weeks, so have a look to get a taste of what’s on the horizon.
There are a number of orchids that seem to draw the crowds at The Orchid Show better than others: The pansy orchid (Miltonia) is one of them. This cheery flower–as the name suggests–has a broad open bloom that looks like a cross between a pansy and a butterfly, often bearing the etchings of a face or waterfall markings that cascade down its lip (Labellum).
Miltonias are actually two genera: Miltonia and Miltoniopsis. Don’t worry, I am not going to digress into a technical discussion; rather, I am raising the distinction so you understand that they can flourish in your home with the proper care. Miltonia and Miltoniopsis were once clumped together–now they are separated–but people still refer to all of them as Miltonia. In this day and age there are so many hybrids out there that, unless you are specifically searching for a species, you probably have a little bit of both in your orchid.
Yes, it’s a weed, it’s a biennial, and it’s called mullein (Verbascum bombyciferum). So many visitors asked me about this plant during a recent Conservatory tour of Monet’s Garden that, as soon as I got home, I went straight to the computer to look up more information.
When it comes to weeds, as Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “A weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.” And it seems Monet’s keen eye was quick to see those virtues in mullein, especially when its wooly, whitish leaves were placed near the foliage of poppies.
For our exhibition, Monet’s spring flower garden features lots of poppies in many colors alongside–you guessed it–mullein. Rising over four feet high, the showy yellow flowers really stand out, prompting visitors to ask, “What’s that?”
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.
Laura Collier is Marketing Associate at The New York Botanical Garden.
Since I started working at the Garden, my friends, family, and acquaintances assume I instantly acquired all sorts of plant-related knowledge. I have to politely explain that, while I love being at the Garden, my position doesn’t provide me with a wealth of horticultural learning. But, times arise when it’s time to step up and get some hands-on training. And that’s exactly what I’ve done with The Orchid Show: Cuba in Flower.
Besides regularly stopping by the Conservatory on my lunch break to check out the show and all its blooms, I’ve decided to purchase an orchid from Shop in the Garden, to bring a bit of the show to my home in Queens. Luckily, I’m not expected to be an expert at the Shop when picking out flowers. Along the shelves full of orchids are signs with great tips about orchid care and details about each type. (For more great tips, click here)
Beautiful Blooms, Old Havana, Cuban Countryside Featured
Laura Collier is Marketing Associate at The New York Botanical Garden.
Garden staff have been working in overdrive for weeks, filling the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory with thousands of brilliant orchids and tropical plants in preparation for the 8th annual Orchid Show.
I’ve been craning my neck during every visit to the Conservatory to get a glimpse of the show being set up. Fortunately, Rustin Dwyer, our expert staff videographer, has been behind the scenes catching all the action. He’s been working with Karen Daubmann, Director of Exhibitions, to document the details that go into the making of The Orchid Show: Cuba in Flower.
Check out the most up-to-date installment as well as all the videos building up to the opening in the box below. The show starts tomorrow, Saturday, February 27. I’ll be stopping in to see all the beautiful blooms, which are displayed this year in vignettes from Old Havana and the Cuban countryside.
Designer Visits from Florida to View Progress of Installation Jorge Sánchez (right), designer of The Orchid Show: Cuba in Flower, and John C. Lubischer (left), Senior Associate of the Palm Beach-based landscape architectural firm Sánchez & Maddux, visited the Botanical Garden last week to view the progress of the installation, which includes an allée of palm trees, a sugar mill ruin, and other iconic vignettes of Old Havana and the Cuban countryside—amid fabulous orchids. “All the pieces are fitting into place flawlessly—with grace and good humor,” Jorge said. “What a pleasure to be working with such a well-organized group.” Here he talks with Garden staff Francisca Coelho, Senior Curator and Associate Vice President for Glasshouses and Exhibitions (back to camera), and Karen Daubmann, Director of Exhibitions and Seasonal Displays, in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, where the exhibition will run from February 27 through April 11.
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It’s little more than a week ’til we throw the spotlight on 
