Inside/Out & About

Orchid Fever  

Have you ever watched people looking at orchids? There is something about these flowers which draws you in,  leaning closer to get a better look at the details in each exotic bloom, and perhaps a whiff of their subtle, intoxicating perfume.   See and sniff for youself!  The Blue Grass Orchid Society holds regular meetings in Lexington.  For details about upcoming events, call Don Schabel (859) 275-1977.  This friendly and knowledgeable group of enthusiasts can help introduce you to a relaxing and rewarding pastime, as well as a passion for discovering more about the world of orchids.  Their May meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 4th at the KET building on Cooper Drive; it is open to the public and admission is free.  The May guest speaker: Eric Sauer, owner of River Valley Orchids in Centerville, Ohio.  who along with his daughter Lexie will be speaking on the genus Maxillaria.   Check out their Web site by clicking HERE River Valley Orchids. 

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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.

Happy 200th birthday, Charles Darwin!           Happy 200th birthday, Charles Darwin!  British naturalist, voyager on the HMS Beagle, and author of many books including the Origin of Species, Darwin was ahead of his time with scientific theories, penning thoughts that reached to the far distant past as well as keen observations of the world around him.

Take the example of this amazing white orchid which can be found in Madasgar.  It is called Angraecum sesquipedale, or the Comet Orchid.  In Latin, sesquipedale means one and a half feet, the amazing length of the nectar spur that was the subject of one of Darwin’s theories.  In his study of orchid cross-fertilization during the mid-1800s, Darwin noted that a moth that could pollinate it would need to have a proboscis, or nose-lie structure, that would equal the length of the nectar spur. In 1862, he wrote “ … in Madasgascar there must be moths with probosces capable of extension to a length of between ten and eleven inches!” The problem was that no one had ever seen such an insect anywhere before, and Darwin was mocked for his unusual idea.  It would have been unlikely anyone at that time would have seen a moth’s proboscis unfurl for a second in the dark of night anyway; even today with infrared cameras, it’s hard to catch.  Darwin died in 1882, but years later, in 1903,  a Sphinx Moth, a type of hawk moth, was found on Madasgar.  Called Xanthopan morgani subsp. praedicta, the praedicta recognized Darwin’s prediction that it indeed existed.  

INto orchids?  Check out the new review of Moth Orchids by Master Gardener Rachel Oskins.