6# – How is this orchid display created?

The orchid display starts as a concept more than a year before its installation. The show changes themes each year. New props specific to each show are designed and built, and the display is installed by a team of Horticulture staff and volunteers.

Each orchid plant here is part of our permanent collection. The variety of orchids you see in this display changes over six weeks. We start with about 800 plants and switch out approximately 50 to 100 plants each week, replacing them with fresh blooms from the greenhouse.

Our display is meant to look as natural as possible, with epiphytic orchids growing in trees and terrestrial orchids growing along the ground. Our temporary landscape is surrounded by bark with a surface treatment of moss to give you a feeling of being in the tropics.

When the show ends, everything is dismantled and the plants are returned to the production greenhouses until next year. You can check out photos of the installation and see how it all comes together on the Garden’s Web site, www.mobot.org.