Editor’s Note: It can be tough to dodge our winter weather. But for my money, one of the best places to get a break from the snow and ice is a trip to the Cleveland Botanical Garden’s annual orchid show.
The show’s theme is Orchid Rodeo and it runs from Feb. 14 through April 5. I go almost every year and am always surprised by the colors, fragrances and peculiar beauty of these show-stopping plants. If you’ve had success growing your own (and good for you, as I’ve never done it), you see that the grocery store orchids have a lot of fancy relatives of all sizes and shapes, many of them appearing at the botanical garden show.
Tickets are on sale now at holdenfg.org. You’ll also find the lineup of special orchid events throughout the next two months.
This year’s orchid show blends the wild west cowboy spirit with the delicate beauty of orchids paired with sculptural cacti, lush greenery, and sun-soaked landscapes. This show will lasso you in with species like Dendrobium, Oncidium and Phalaenopsis in hues of pink, purple and yellow.
“Orchids aren’t all fragile — they’re fierce. They grow on every continent except Antarctica,
thrive in some of the harshest conditions on earth, and somehow still bring unexpected color, even to the desert,” says Amanda Hannah, Director of Botanical Garden Horticulture at the Cleveland Botanical Garden. “The spirit of Orchid Rodeo blends western traditions with modern pop culture to create something playful, immersive, and wildly colorful. You won’t find anything else like it in Cleveland.”
With more than 100 types of orchids, Orchid Rodeo will display more than 3,000 flowers
from exotic blooms to well-known varieties.
Art by local artists will complement the show, including pieces by Cleveland Heights fiber artist Gunter Schwegler, who specializes in silk painting, and desert flora and fauna works by Painesville artist Melanie Peck.
Photo courtesy of Holden Forests & Gardens
