NYBG: Orchid Show-Part Two

Even if you really hate orchids (is this actually anyone?) there are still things to see at the New York Botanical Garden Orchid Show that aren't orchids. I have been to the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory many times in the past year and I'm still finding pieces to swoon over in their permanent collections.

Everywhere you look there is something new and interesting and completely strange because plants are probably aliens and more often than not, kind of freak me out.

There are leaves with spots, leaves with stripes, furry, curly plants that look like monkeys' tails and flowers with colors so bright that they don't even look real. The desert collection is always full of weird and prickly things and I decided recently that if I were a type of plant, I would definitely be a cactus. I love the subtle gradations and colors in the succulents and cacti especially, and I always have to resist touching, squeezing or otherwise fondling even the most dangerous-looking ones.

Some of the plants are so perfect that they look plastic; others smell fantastic or are so strange looking that I can't possibly figure out their purpose in the grand scheme of things. I never skip the permanent collections when I go to the garden, since there is always something new to discover, and sometimes I end up enjoying them more than the main exhibits.

I really never considered myself a plant/flower person until I went to my first orchid show last year, but now I'm continually fascinated. Nature is a weird and wonderful thing, and even though I still may not be able to grow or nurture a plant to save my life, at least I can go visit hundreds (thousands?) of them whenever I start to yearn for something green (or pink, or purple, or orange...).