The Cleveland Botanical Garden’s annual orchid show “Orchid Mania: This Side of Paradise” gets a 1920s Art Deco setting for this year’s blooms.
Nationally recognized exhibit designer Tres Fromme, who designed last year’s show, said in a press release, “Orchids are undoubtedly one of the most stylish and decorative of all flowers.”
Cynthia Druckenbrod, direcotr of horticulture at Cleveland Botanical Garden, also known as the Orchid Doctor, is able to tell whether a plant can be saved or not just by looking at a sick orchid. She will be seeing “patients” during the show.
“Some people bring in a plant that’s as dead as a doornail–shriveled, mushy and brown,” she said. “We let them chuck it. It’s sad, but they appreciate knowing what’s going on. They have some closure.”
Druckenbrod and her husband Mark, the garden’s former director of horticulture, have been ministering to sick plants in a feature of the annual orchid show for almost 10 years. Orchid lovers may attend and learn from the hundreds of healthy, elegant and delicate blooms on display. They are also encouraged to bring in sick orchids so that other gardeners can learn from them.
The exhibit will run from Saturday, February 11 through Sunday, March 25. The orchids will be put on view in the naturalistic settings inside the Costa Rica section of the Eleanor Armstrong Smith Glasshouse.
Hours are 10am to 5pm Tuesdays-Saturdays, noon to 5pm Sundays. “Ask the Orchid Doctor” is from 1 to 3pm on Saturdays, Feb. 11, Feb. 25, March 3 and March 24. “Orchid Vendor Weekend” is from 10am to 5pm on Saturday, March 3 and noon to 5pm on Sunday, March 4.
Tickets are free with garden admission, which is $9.50; $3, children 3-12; free, members and children under 3.
The Cleveland Botanical Garden is located at 11030 East Blvd., Cleveland.
