The folks at Brooklyn Botanic Garden were so super kind to comp me a ticket to their “LUSH” party this past Friday, February 10. I was thrilled to be able to go, especially considering I can’t really afford to drop $65 for a night out. My boyfriend (who did purchase his ticket) and I had a great time!
I’d never been to an event at BBG before. This party was held in their event room, called the Palm House, and it’s really gorgeous when all lit up at night:
Dave Horak, BBG Orchid Curator with a lovely orchid. Photo by Elizabeth Peters
Attention all Brooklyn orchid lovers-slash-party people! On Friday, February 10, Brooklyn Botanic Garden is throwing what sounds like an incredibly fun bash called Lush. The party is being held in the BBG Palm House and will include the following:
Live music from boogaloo band Spanglish Fly (I actually have no idea what “boogaloo” style music is, but I imagine it’s festive)
Custom cut leaf silhouettes by artist Aaron Birk (this in particular sounds really cool and I’m curious to see the end result!)
But the most exciting part? I’ll let the event’s press release speak for itself:
“BBG curator Dave Horak will bring guests behind the scenes of BBG’s orchid collection, introducing some of the world’s most remarkable tropical specimens in BBG’s care. Guests will also have a special chance to see the orchid nursery, usually unavailable for public viewing, and learn about the critical conservation of tropical orchids.”
Dave Horak, BBG Orchid Curator. Photo by Elizabeth Peters
The events runs from 8pm to midnight and tickets are $65 a pop. I’m going to try to swing it, though being mostly unemployed makes it a hard for me to spend $65 for an evening out. The party does sound like it will be well worth it, though. Anyone out there planning to go?
Correction: I originally stated that tickets are $75, but they are in fact $65 apiece.
Today I noticed an article on Gothamist about the Tiger Orchid in bloom at the BBG. And then I went over to the BBG’s Garden News Blog and saw their post about it, along with some really nice photos of this monster orchid’s blooms. Their photographer snapped closeups of these giant flowers, which I failed to get during my visit last week.
According to the Gothamist article, the Grammatophyllum Speciosum gains 100 pounds when it is in bloom! Impressive. Now that was a bit of information that I didn’t know.
I think I’ve earned to the right to be smug and say that I was the first to blog about the BBG’s Tiger Orchid blooming. Just saying. 🙂
But seriously, go see the orchid. I know I’ve said this before. It’s really quite a sight to behold, and there are some other really beautiful orchids to be seen in the Aquatic House while you’re there visiting the Tiger. As I mentioned, winter weekday admission is free, and the Aquatic House (and the entire Conservatory in general) is a wonderful respite from grossy, chilly winter weather.
Edited to add: Commenter Stefano pointed out a gratuitous article about the orchid from today’s online Brooklyn Paper, too. Orchid growing isn’t like baseball or cycling, folks.
I had forgotten about Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s free winter weekday admission until I saw Brokelyn’s post about it earlier this week. So I made plans to go with my also-marginally-employed friend on Friday morning (random aside: we planned to meet at 11am on 11.11.11!). I’ve been in the mood to go see some orchids, and I was also thinking about how the Grammatophyllum speciosum (AKA the Tiger Orchid) was probably due to bloom soonish. You may remember that I featured this plant as an Orchid of the Week quite awhile back; it’s believed to be the largest type of orchid in the world!
When we got to the Aquatic House at the BBG, we marveled at some lovely Vandas for awhile before I realized that the Tiger Orchid was already in bloom!! This plant is a truly stunning monster:
Sorry that I’ve been MIA for awhile—I have just been lame and not doing my Orchid of the Week posts, and then for the past week and a half I’ve been sick. I’m still sick—might have pneumonia, actually—but something exciting happened yesterday that I have to share. My mystery dendrobium that I bought early this year at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden shop has finally bloomed! It’s a pretty, small white bloom:
Mystery Dendrobium Bloom!
It may be a little hard to see, but there is a very faint pink tinge way back in the throat of the bloom:
Pink-tinged throat
As you can see, a second bud is developing so this bloom will soon have a buddy. At this point, it only looks like the spike is putting out two blooms. Hopefully it will produce some more in the future!
OK, back to resting and drinking lots and lots of water. Once I’ve fully recovered I am going to get back on the orchid blogging horse and will work on updating more regularly!
Wow, so I totally skipped doing an Orchid of the Week post last Friday, for no good reason. I guess I just wasn’t really in the mood. But something that has gotten me in the mood to post is that my mystery Dendrobium is in spike! Check out the nubbin I noticed within some of its leaves a couple weeks ago:
The beginnings of a spike
I bought this guy on sale for $12 at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden shop, along with an Odontoglossom Geyser Gold that has since died. This Dendrobium, which wasn’t in bloom when I bought it, has been flourishing and putting out new growths every so often. And now, it looks like it’s gearing up to finally bloom for me! The nubbin has turned into a spike for sure:
Bloom for me, baby!
Getting this orchid to bloom is particularly exciting for me, because it had no tag when I bought it and I have absolutely no idea what its flowers are going to look like. For all I know it’s not even a Dendrobium (though its foliage and canes suggest that it is).
So I will wait patiently for the mystery blooms to open up. Whatever they end up looking like, they will be a nice surprise. Stay tuned!