Orchid Show 2018

This was my sixth year in a row attending the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden (see my photos from 2017 / 2016 / 2015 / 2014 / 2013). The show changes subtly each year, but I appreciate that it doesn't change too much. We went on Saturday, which was the first really nice day of the year—in the 70s and sunny—and it seemed like every single person in the city was outside. We had to wait in line just to get into the conservatory, which was a first, but the orchids are worth the wait. 

It's surreal to me that I'm coming up on my five-year New York anniversary and I'm becoming very protective of the traditions that I have made over these years. My uncle is usually in town for the orchid show and it did feel a bit wrong to go without him, but I can't bear to miss it. 

The variety of orchids will never cease to astound me and my respect for nature grows each time I visit the garden. I feel like an expert by now on the orchids at the show—here are the ones that smell like chocolate, there are the ones that look like slippers—but of course I know very little about plants. I've killed nearly everything I've tried to grow on my own, so I'm happy to just be a spectator. 

Spring has just now arrived, so most of the garden is behind in its bloom schedule. The cherries, which are usually just about reaching their peak at this time are just beginning to bloom, so it was nice to be able to spend a few hours surrounded by so many orchids at their peak. The cultivation and collection of orchids is a fascinating world, and if you have even a passing interest in the subject I highly recommend reading this book. 

I don't know if I'll be able to make it to the orchid show every single year, but there's a comfort in knowing that no matter how bleak the winter gets, spring will always come early to the greenhouses of the New York Botanical Garden.

---

New York Botanical Garden
2900 Southern Boulevard
Bronx, NY 10458-5126
The Orchid Show is open Tues-Sunday, 10am-6pm until Sunday, April 22nd

NYBG: Orchid Show 2017

This was my fifth year in a row attending the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden. Even though the design of the show changes from year to year—this year's theme is "Thailand"—the flowers are pretty similar, and yet I'm still nowhere near over the thrill of seeing so many beautiful orchids in one place.

As far as I'm concerned, orchids are basically aliens—or maybe we're the aliens that invaded Planet Orchid. I feel that way about a lot of nature (have you ever really looked at deep sea creatures??), but orchids are so intricate and varied that it's hard not to be in complete awe of their beauty. I think it's their variation that amazes me the most—there are orchids that look like slippers, people, animals and mimic other types of flowers. There are orchids with blooms as big as your hand and as tiny as the tip of your finger. There are green ones and purple ones and orchids with stripes, spots and blotches. Some orchids smell like chocolate, and others have no scent at all.

For the second year in a row, the slipper orchid managed to be the most memorable for me. The single blooms are easy to miss at the show—this year they're low to the ground around the centerpiece—but they're so incredibly intricate and just downright strange-looking. The veiny, kiwi-colored one simultaneously grossed me out and intrigued me, and no matter how long I look at them they're hard for my brain to process.

Despite my best intentions, I still seem to have trouble keeping my own plants alive so it's nice to be able to surround myself with such top-notch specimens just for the price of admission. After some false starts, spring has been dragging its feet coming to the city, but I've come to regard the Orchid Show as an essential ritual to welcome the season.

Past orchid shows: 2016 // 2015 // 2014 // 2013

NYBG: Orchid Show 2016

This was my fourth year going to the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden. It's safe to say that it's now a tradition, one I don't intend on breaking anytime in the near future. The orchid show always comes along right about the time I'm getting very tired of being cold and longing for the colors and warmth of spring.

The design and layout of the show doesn't seem to change much from year to year and I've begun to recognize most of the types of orchids. But orchids are so insane that it's still hard to believe that they're actually real. Nature is so strange and fantastical.

This year I became particularly obsessed with the slipper orchid. Named of course because it literally looks like a slipper ripe for slipping onto a tiny foot. With their striped and spotted wings they also look like little alien creatures that might come to life and fly away at any moment.

I took a Tuesday off of work to go with my uncle, who was in town, and it was such a more civilized way to see the show. The orchid show isn't quite the zoo that the holiday train show is, but being able to wander at a leisurely pace and actually see the flowers without having to view them through someone else's selfie stick is definitely preferable.

NYBG: Orchid Show 2015

Sunday was the last day for the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Gardens and I had been meaning to go for some time. I renewed my NYBG membership last Christmas and I try not to miss an opportunity to go. This was my third consecutive year seeing the Orchid Show, which is—in my opinion—their best show.

This year's show was set up a bit differently than the past two. The theme was "Chandeliers" and a lot of the orchids were arranged in large baskets dangling from the conservatory ceilings. It was also organized differently and took you through the entire conservatory space clockwise instead of counter-clockwise.

I was initially disappointed by the sparse and kind of shriveled up orchids, and I was afraid that waiting until closing day had been a mistake. But the reverse layout meant that they saved the best for last and it wasn't until the end of the show that I was as wowed as I had been the previous two years.

The orchid show is my favorite because it's a spectacular show, but also because after such long and brutal winters in the city, it is a very welcome jolt of color and a great way to shake off any residual winter blues. Very suddenly the entire city seems to be in bloom and I couldn't be happier that it's finally starting to look and feel like spring.

2013 Orchid Show / 2014 Orchid Show

NYBG: Orchid Show-Part One

On Sunday Trent, Jim and I went to the annual Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. The Orchid Show was my first experience at the NYBG last year (I went with my uncle) and having since been to other shows throughout the year —Kiku: Japanese Garden and the Holiday Train Show— I can say that the Orchid Show is definitely the best (not that the others are bad, but orchids are just awesome).

That being said, I think last year's show was better than the current show; it seemed as if there were less flowers this year, which I can't know for sure if there was, but something about it felt more sparse. Maybe it was just that a bit of the novelty has worn off since I recognized a lot of varieties from last year, which is totally understandable. It was still a great escape from the cold, never-ending winter, and we all got in free because I'm a NYBG member.

There is a seemingly infinite variety of orchids on display, from ones that smell like chocolate to ones that look like slippers or giraffes or ladies in ruffled skirts. Jim read that there are orchids you can cook with chicken and that blue is the rarest color. I found myself being especially drawn to the darker varieties — maybe the fact that they're rare makes them feel particularly special. There's always been something about a really dark flower that I love. Flowers are such a happy, beautiful thing that they aren't usually associated with darkness or dark, somber colors. It should come as no surprise that I go to a flower show and end up falling in love with the most morbid ones I can find.

I also really loved the green orchids, once again because green is not generally a flower color. It's actually quite odd to see a green flower and they almost didn't even look real.

The show was a great place to continue playing with my new camera and my 50mm lens was basically made to take a million close-up photos of weird-looking plants, so that's what I spent my time doing. The flowers are so beautiful on their own that I didn't have to try too hard to get a good photo and each one was so different that I couldn't help myself from trying to capture them all.

Becoming a member of the NYBG was one of the best investments I've made and I've gotten more than my money's worth just a few months into my year membership. Although it's currently fucking-freezing degrees outside (this is an exact measurement of temperature now) the orchid show was a wonderful taste of spring — even if we may never again get to experience actual spring in New York.

NYBG: The Orchid Show

Before we went to the backstage tour at the Met, my uncle and I traveled to the Bronx (his first time, my second) for the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Gardens. I love flowers and plants, in part I think, because I cannot for the life of me keep them alive. We always joked that my mom had a "black thumb" and killed supposedly kill-resistant things like chia pets and cacti. I'm sorry to say that I definitely inherited that trait, although perhaps to a lesser degree. I've managed to keep a few house plants alive for a few years, and the roses and Gerbera Daisies in our yard have somehow thrived despite my neglect. I think it's because of this that I have a fascination and extreme respect for beautiful foliage.

I've been to the Brooklyn Botanic garden in the spring, as well as a week ago, but I had never been to the larger New York garden. It's in the same park as the Bronx Zoo, and fairly easy to get to. If you take the subway (B/D), it's about a six block walk to the entrance on Mosholu Parkway. Thursday was a snowy day, but always on the verge of rain, so it wasn't too frigid. We arrived at the garden a little after 10am, expecting crowds but thankfully there were only a few other people milling about. Admission to the Orchid Show also gets you into the rest of the grounds, but we were on a somewhat tight time schedule so we just stuck to the orchids.

The Enid A. Haupt conservatory is a beautiful, enormous glass enclosure and nearly every room was just bursting with orchids and other wonderful plants. They also had flowering gardenias, grapefruits, lemons, enormous ferns and a desert section with various cacti. But of course, it's the orchids that steal the spotlight whenever they can.

They have an incredible amount of variety — ones that smell like chocolate, ones that look like slippers, ones that are printed like a giraffe, big ones, small ones and ones that look like tulips. Orchids are strange creatures — some even look like aliens. I wish I could have bottled the scent of the entire show, it was so lovely. It was nice to breathe in the sweet-scented, warm, moist air on such a dreary day, and after spending a few hours with the orchids I can definitively say I'm ready for spring.

I would love to go back to the garden for their take on the flowering cherries, but alas I leave for Ohio tomorrow (eek!). I did, however, pick up a copy of Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief to reread — have you read it? If you've seen Adaptation you know that it's nearly impossible to explain without sounding dull, but believe me when I say it's anything but. Orlean is a fantastic writer, and the subject of passion, obsession and collecting is one that will always be near to my heart. It's even more interesting to revisit her words after I've seen a lot of what she describes, and she even mentions that some of the orchid varieties currently at the NYBG have been there since the late 1800s.

The show runs until April 22nd, and I highly recommend checking it out, and while you're there you can pick up a copy of the Orchid Thief, conveniently available in the gift shop.