Orchids. When did they capture our attention and eventually take their place as one of the most desired flowers in the world? Questions like that are nearly impossible to answer but there’s no question that this ancient flower still captures our unwavering fascination. This year’s orchid show at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe goes the extra mile to insure one thing. That visitors appreciate the extraordinary variety of shapes, sizes, colors and beauty orchids possess. For most of us, our knowledge begins and ends on the last attribute, the flower’s timeless and regal beauty. We’re not aware that orchids are over 30 million years old and can be found everywhere on earth except Antarctica. Minnesota’s state flower is an orchid, the white lady slipper, Cypripedium reginae. Of the more than 25,000 natural orchid species, 200 can be found in the United States. Those numbers take on more relevance when you consider there are only 150 wild species of roses on earth.
Recognizing and respecting the diversity of the natural world may be one of the most rewarding aspects of exhibitions like the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Orchid Show. Our eyes have become accustomed to having very limited expectations about what an orchid is and can look like. Passing through Home Depot or your local supermarket usually reveals just one species of the flower, Phalaenopsis, the moth orchid. Hardy, beautiful and bold, its popularity is easily understood. But what about the others?
Filling hallways, show rooms, greenhouses and covering walls, the array of orchids presented in this showcase seemed endless. Some looked other worldly. Others were as tiny as bluebells. The range of difference shouldn’t be surprising since orchids make up the world’s largest flowering plant family.
Taking great care to insure visitors maximize their ability to closely view and absorb the beauty of each specimen, curators and staff employ a variety of techniques to enhance the experience. Stylish oversized magnifying lens and huge tangled columns covered in orchids were just two of the ways the eye was given to see the orchid in a new light.
As one of the Botanic Garden’s most popular exhibitions, the orchid show gives us an unmatched opportunity to lose ourselves in the splendor of the natural world.
The Orchid Show
February 11 – March 23
Chicago Botanic Garden
1000 Lake Cook Road
Glencoe, IL 60022
