One section I haven't mentioned in our epic LA Arboretum visit, yet, was the Tropical Orchid House.
It really is quite a place,
The space is small, but has so much going on that it is mind boggling.
You don't know where to look next.
There are flowers popping out at you in ll directions.
I first came across orchids through Daniel Karan, who at the time was my chiropractor.
I used to love going to his office just to see the orchids, they were beautiful.
All I had to do was look at them and they withered, but Daniel and his wife Sally must have had a magical touch with these plants for they flourished under their care.
We all flourished under their care.
3 comments:
I was born in Liverpool which had a world-class botanical gardens collection of orchids. I confess that they were never a flower I was over fond of because of their rather formal air. I prefer less stiff and stilted flowers. I still think, though, that it was a criminal shame to let the collection go on the grounds that it was an 'elitest' flower. Politics can even permeate flower growing!
Graham, how sad, they are a bit labour intensive, but still, an "elitist" flower? Silly sausages.
Ohhh! Orchids! :)
I'm aware of their their history, of the Victorian elite who hired mercenaries to travel to tropical jungles to collect unique varieties for their private collections but what stands out about orchids even more to me is their true otherworldliness. Many of the characteristics shared by different types of orchids are so completely unique from any other plants, that they almost defy classification of the 'plant kingdom'. Although many people consider them finicky and fragile, in their native conditions some orchids can have a lifespan that approaches immortality. Isn't that coo1?
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