World of Orchids Show features new displays each week

ENCINITAS – San Diego Botanic Garden hosts its second annual spring orchid showcase, World of Orchids, from now through Sunday, June 12. The garden will stage the exhibition, which kicked off Mother's Day weekend, in its state-of-the-art, 8,000 square foot, glass-enclosed facility – the Dickinson Family Education Conservatory.

On select days, the show will feature sales of plants, potting materials, reference guides, and other merchandise by vendors, conservation organizations, and local orchid societies.

"This exhibition invites visitors to enjoy the vibrant colors, elegant shapes and intoxicating scents for which orchids are so well known, but it also surprises visitors with flowers of unexpected sizes, shapes, and scents," said SDBG President and CEO, Ari Novy, PhD. "Orchids comprise one of the largest and most diverse families of flowering plants in the world. With hundreds of different species and hybrids on display, this show offers even seasoned collectors the opportunity to discover a strange and delightful new orchid."

The stunning designs will feature impressive specimens, locally-bred hybrids, and rare species in immersive, artistic displays. In addition to the many orchids that already grow in the conservatory's "plant chandeliers," the exhibition will include plants on loan from private growers from the San Diego County Orchid Society and the Palomar Orchid Society.

SDBG's highly awarded Artist-in-Residence, René van Rems, AIFD, serves as creative director for the exhibit for the second year in a row. Van Rems will design a new display for each of the five weeks, allowing visitors to experience changing flowers and arrangements across multiple visits.

SDBG is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday through Monday. Members of SDBG and other gardens participating in the American Horticultural Society's Reciprocal Admissions Program receive free admission. Non-member admissions range from $12 to $18. Entrance to the exhibition includes access to the rest of the garden's 37 acres during the same visit.

For more information and to reserve an entrance date and time, visit https://www.sdbgarden.org/orchids.htm.

Submitted by San Diego Botanic Garden.