12 episodes

MBG: Orchid Show 2007

Missouri Botanical Garden Orchid Show 2007 Missouri Botanical Garden

    • Government

MBG: Orchid Show 2007

    1# – Welcome from Dr. Peter Raven

    1# – Welcome from Dr. Peter Raven

    voice: Dr. Peter H. Raven
    Welcome to the Garden and to our fabulous “The Art of Orchids” show. I’m Peter Raven, president of the Missouri Botanical Garden.
    Our talented horticulture and design staff works hard every year to bring you this beautiful display of winter-blooming orchids and I think you will find this years’ display to be truly exceptional.
    The new audio tour by cell provides even more opportunity to learn about this fascinating collection, as you enjoy their beauty first hand.
    Let us know how you like the audio tour. There will be a prompt which will allow you to tell us your thoughts.
    Thanks for visiting - and I hope to see YOU at the Garden again soon.

    • 42 sec
    10# – Where can orchids be purchased?

    10# – Where can orchids be purchased?

    Voice: Jan Simons, Vice President of Retail Operations

    I’m Jan Simons, Vice President of Retail Operations. Stop by the Garden Gate Shop and check out our great selection of potted orchids, and everything you need to grow them. If you’re buying an orchid for the first time, try an easy-to-grow Phalaenopsis. It’s also known as the “moth orchid.” Our prices start as low as $6 for a small seedling. For about $40, you can buy a nice-sized plant in bloom. And remember, proceeds from your purchase support the Garden.

    Our sales staff can also help you select the correct fertilizer, orchid bark, pots, stakes and tools. When you buy an orchid, you will receive written instructions for the proper plant care.

    • 38 sec
    11# – What else is there to see at the Garden?

    11# – What else is there to see at the Garden?

    Voice: Lisa Brandon, Public Relations Manager
    I’m Lisa Brandon, Public Relations Manager. After you enjoy the orchid show, stop by our historic Linnean House, outside the Ridgway Center. From now until mid-March, more than 50 different camellias will fill the conservatory with blooms of red, white and pink. Look for the rare, yellow-flowering camellia. This one usually blooms in early March. As you enter the Linnean House, you’ll notice a sweet fragrance - but it’s not the camellias, because they have almost no scent! The delicate fragrance comes from jasmine and olive trees that grow near the entrance.

    Inside the Climatron, it’s always a warm, comfortable 85 degrees. Escape winter for a while inside this rain forest of rare, fascinating plants, waterfalls and exotic birds. A walk through the Climatron is like a mini-vacation to the tropics!

    Our Japanese Garden was actually designed to be most beautiful in rain, mist and snow. It’s a view worth bundling up for on a snowy day.

    • 52 sec
    12# – Please leave us your feedback.

    12# – Please leave us your feedback.

    Voice: Dr. Peter H. Raven, president

    Thank you for visiting The Art of Orchids. We certainly hope you’ve enjoyed your experience.

    This audio tour is being offered as a pilot to enhance your visit to the Garden and your feedback will help guide as we strive to improve ways to connect to you, the visitor.

    When you’re ready, please press the pound key to record comments about your experience, to make suggestions for improvements or to leave questions about something you heard on the tour.

    When you’ve finished recording, simply press the pound key to save your message and we’ll be listening to it with interest.

    Thank you very much for leaving your comments. We appreciate your visit.

    • 32 sec
    2# – How is the orchid show at the Garden created?

    2# – How is the orchid show at the Garden created?

    Voice: Pat Scace, exhibit designer

    I’m Pat Scace, the exhibit designer in the Floral Display Department. Would you believe it takes a full year to plan and prepare for this orchid show?! After we choose a theme, my assistant and I work closely with a team of volunteers to design and build props in our workshop behind the floral display hall.

    This year’s show presents the art of growing, illustrating and displaying the Garden’s extensive orchid collection. Among the hundreds of live specimens you will also see botanical prints from the Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Scenes in this classic conservatory were inspired in part by a still life watercolor painting.

    Each plant is part of our permanent collection, including the 7 18-foot ficus trees that we incorporate into each of our shows. We display the orchids carefully to appear as they grow in nature, whether they’re attached to tree bark or grow low to the ground. We detail the pots with moss and bark for a more natural appearance. When the show ends, everything is dismantled and the plants are returned to the production greenhouse until next year.

    If you’d like to see how it all comes together, check out the photos of the installation in progress on our Web site www.mobot.org.

    • 1 min
    3# – How are the orchids cared for behind the scenes?

    3# – How are the orchids cared for behind the scenes?

    Voice: Babs Wagner
    I’m Babs Wagner, the horticulturist in charge of the Garden’s orchid collection. Behind the scenes in the greenhouse, we tend thousands of plants. For the orchid show, I display as many different kinds as I can, so you can see the amazing diversity of our collection.

    The stars of this show are the winter bloomers. To get them ready on time, I juggle the greenhouse temperatures, starting in October. By doing this, I can force the flowers to bloom early or delay their bloom times a little. The variety of orchids you see here will change over six weeks. We start with about 800 orchids. I switch out approximately 50 to 100 as they start to fade each week and replace them with blooming plants from our greenhouses. First thing every morning, I slice off any faded flowers with a sharp razor blade, so everything always looks fresh and perfect.

    Do you know that vanilla comes from an orchid vine? Our vanilla orchid collection is one of North America’s largest. Look for the Vanilla planifolia. This plant is 102 years old, from 1904! Vanilla is extracted from the fleshy seed pod, called a vanilla bean. It’s actually a fruit that ripens gradually and eventually turns black, filled with thousands of tiny seeds.

    • 1 min

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