New York Botanical Garden | Brooklyn Orchids

My Visit to The Orchid Show: Patrick Blanc’s Vertical Gardens

April 4, 2012 7 Comments

Conservatory Main Entrance — Centerpiece in the Haupt Conservatory atrium

I finally made the trek up to the NYBG yesterday for my fourth annual visit to the Orchid Show. This year marks the show’s 10th anniversary, with the theme being vertical gardens. Botanist, provacateur, and vertical gardening artist Patrick Blanc, aka “The Green Man,” created this year’s stunning displays. Orchids really are the perfect plant for constructing breathtaking vertical gardens, with their long, arching flower spikes and their ability to produce massive sprays of blooms. These plants sometimes grow on vertical surfaces in nature—tree trunks, branches, rocks, etc—so a vertical garden is a very logical way to show them off!

My mom was in town and we made the trip together. We both took about a million photos, and of course I want to share some of my favorites with you. Get ready for a hefty dose of orchid porn, starting…NOW.

New York Botanical Garden, Orchid Shows

“The Orchid Show: Patrick Blanc’s Vertical Gardens” is Now Open!

March 8, 2012 6 Comments

The New York Botanical Garden‘s tenth annual Orchid Show opened this past Saturday! I haven’t had a chance to go yet, but my friend and her mom went the day before the show opened to the public, on “member day.” My friend texted me from there and said that I was going to freak out over how amazing it is!! She sent me a few photos from her visit…and the displays certainly do look stunning:

Vertical Garden – Photo by Monique Hartl

New York Botanical Garden, Orchid Shows

Mark Your Calendars for the 2012 Orchid Show

January 8, 2012 4 Comments

Patrick Blanc — Photo credit: thefifthestate.com.au

Happy New Year! With every new year comes a new Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden. This year the Orchid Show falls a bit later than usual; it will run from March 3 through April 22, 2012. This will be the show’s tenth anniversary and the theme is vertical gardening. French botanist Patrick Blanc is the show’s curator—the man who is said to be the creator of the living wall, aka the green wall. Even Blanc’s hair is green. Perhaps he should change his last name to Vert.

Enough with the lame green commentary. With this guy at the helm, this year’s Orchid Show is sure to be stunning. Take a gander at some of Blanc’s previous work:

Marché des Halles in Avignon. Photo credit: pingmag.jp

The Siam Paragon Shopping Center in Bangkok. Photo credit: pingmag.jp

Vertical Garden in Madrid. Photo credit: Nicole Jewell

So basically, this year’s Orchid Show is gonna be built by the rock star of vertical gardening. I cannot wait to see what he does with tons of stunning, blooming orchids. My gut says this show will be sold out a good deal of the time!

New York Botanical Garden, Orchid Shows

Vote #24 for Orchid Board 2012 Calendar

August 1, 2011 1 Comment

I’ve been terrible with blogging…again. Sorry guys! I visited an orchid farm out in San Diego and I still need to sit down and write a post about it, which I WILL DO this week. But for now, I’m going to do a totally shameless plug. For those of you who are OrchidBoard.com members, voting is up for the 2012 calendar, and the photo that I submitted is in the running!

My photo (seen here) is #24 and I’m very proud of it, so PLEASE VOTE for it! We can each vote for 13 of the 43 entries, and there are plenty of great ones. But let’s be honest, I like mine the best. 🙂

I took the photo at this year’s Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden. It’s an xOdontocidium Sunlight ‘Pacific Punch’ and I absolutely love the burgundy-fading-into-peach coloring on the petals.

I’ve cast my votes. Voting ends in seven days, so be sure to make your choices ASAP. Thanks in advance for your support!

Events, New York Botanical Garden, Orchid Shows

My Visit to The Orchid Show: On Broadway

March 12, 2011 13 Comments

Orchid Show Entrance Display — Entrance Display

Yesterday morning, my boyfriend and I rented a Zipcar (to avoid sitting on the subway for 3+ hours to and from the Bronx) and drove up to the New York Botanical Garden for the annual Orchid Show! I’ve been talking about going to this show for awhile and was so, so excited to go! My visit to the NYBG’s Orchid Show in 2009 was what initially sparked my interest in these amazing plants, so this show holds a special place in my memories.

As you may know, this year’s theme is “On Broadway.” The display in the entrance to the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory is seen in the photo above, with orchids creating a proscenium arch and stage in the middle of the large reflecting pool. This display is comprised mostly of Cymbidiums and Epidendrums in yellows, oranges, and reds…and it’s quite a show-stopper (heehee).

Quick warning: LOTS of photos are ahead! 🙂

Events, New York Botanical Garden, Orchid Shows

NYBG Orchid Show 2011

January 3, 2011 6 Comments

It’s a new year, and I’m already thinking about the New York Botanical Garden‘s Orchid Show! I just looked at their website and found out that this year’s show runs from March 5 through April 25, and the theme is “On Broadway.”According to the site, “The lure and lore of orchids and the theater are melded by Tony award-winning set designer Scott Pask and image maker Drew Hodges to evoke the flair and excitement of Broadway.”

Sounds pretty different from the themes of the past two years, which were “Cuba in Flower” and “Brazilian Modern.” To be honest, I don’t really care what the theme is; I just want to go see thousands and thousands of amazing orchids!!