News

Orchids bright and beautiful

The annual orchid extravaganza at the National Botanic Garden of Wales takes place on September 1-2.

Once again, nurseries from home and abroad will converge at the Garden for a weekend boasting an enormous variety of orchid plants for sale, ranging from the colourful and flamboyant to the beautiful and bizarre.

Organised by the Orchid Study Group under the chairmanship of botanist Dr Kevin Davies, this is the festival’s fifth year.

An exciting programme of talks and seminars has been arranged, covering orchid cultivation and conservation.

Phil Seaton, the guest speaker, deserves special mention. Phil is an honorary research associate at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, a trustee of Orchid Conservation International (OCI) and chair of OCI’s ex-situ conservation group.

On the Saturday, Phil will present an illustrated talk entitled Saving Darwin’s Orchids, to be followed by a seminar on the Ex-situ Conservation of Orchids.

Whether you are new to orchid growing, or an old-hand, there will be something for you. For further details of participating nurseries, talks and seminars, go to www.orchidstudygroup.org

For more information about this and other Garden events, email info@gardenofwales.org.uk or call 01558 667149.

 

• The OSG was established in 2005 to provide a focus for orchid study and cultivation in Wales. Indeed, its patron, Tom Hart Dyke, a prominent plant collector and founder of the World Garden at Lullingstone Castle, was himself kidnapped while orchid hunting in the Darien Gap, a region of the Panamanian jungle, and held captive for almost a year.