Susan Durisek’s blog

GARDEN GLORIES

Opening this weekend at The Arboretum on Alumni Drive is the Glories of the Garden exhibit.  All sorts of artistry, including fiber works, paintings and photographs with garden-related themes, will be displayed during regular Arboretum hours, from February 5th through 24th.   A reception February 21, 2-4 p.m. will give you the opportunity to meet the artists; the events are free and open to the public. 

One of the exhibitors, Joe Dietz, has some fantastic orchid photographs displayed.  Featured on the cover of the September 2009 Orchid magazine, his dazzling close-ups conjure up a warm, tropical atmosphere that brings some relief to the February freeze, allowing a moment to bask in the Glories for Valentine’s Day. Dietz and fellow orchid expert Tim Brooks, who wrote the text for the accompanying feature article and was elected to the national Board of Trustees of the American Orchid Society last April, have recently added a collection of temperate-climate orchids, commonly well-known as Lady’s Slippers, or to horticulturalists as Cypripedium,  to The Arboretum’s collection.