Missouri Botanical Garden's 92nd Annual Orchid Show Features a Lush Indoor Garden

By Karen Hagenow

St Louis, MO - Experience the color, beauty and fragrance of orchids in bloom in the middle of winter. The Missouri Botanical Garden’s 92nd annual Orchid Show features a lush indoor garden of French-inspired, curvilinear design, resplendent with up to 800 fresh-blooming orchids. The Orchid Show is the only time of year that the Garden’s historic collection is made available for public viewing en masse, so hurry to see this fleeting display! Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, Saturday, Jan. 30 through Sunday, Mar. 28. Show admission is $5, in addition to regular Garden admission ($8 adults, $4 St. Louis City and County residents, free children ages 12 and under). Garden members are free.

The Missouri Botanical Garden maintains one of the nation’s largest orchid collections, with over 8,100 individual orchid plants in hundreds of varieties. Shades of warm yellows, energetic oranges and rosy reds mingle with passionate plums and winter whites reflected in the Oncidiums, Cymbidiums, Cattleyas and other orchids displayed amid lush greenery.

Saunter through the 5,000-square-foot Orthwein Floral Display Hall, transformed into a French-inspired temporary streetscape and garden. Stroll the curved Rue du Jardin beneath lit streetlamps. Meander past storefronts, alongside a rising image of Paris’s monumental Eiffel Tower. Find dozens of larger-than-life butterflies aloft throughout the garden. Decorative fleur de lis finials and ornamental obelisks accent the sophisticated scene.

Winter-blooming orchids comprise about 60- to 70-percent of the Garden’s prized collection, which concentrates on plants that can tolerate extremes in St. Louis temperatures. Throughout the duration of the eight-week show, orchids will be continually rotated out and replaced with fresh blooms as different cultivars come into flower, offering new sights and smells with each repeat visit.
Photographers are welcome to use hand-held cameras to capture the show for personal enjoyment, but tripod and monopod usage is not permitted indoors.

Learn more about the Garden’s orchid collection and its history through a free audio commentary. Download the commentary to an mp3 player in advance by visiting www.mobot.org/events/orchidshow, or use your cell phone to listen during your visit. Call (314) 558-4357 or toll-free (408) 794-0870, and follow the prompts. The call is free, but minutes will be applied per individual cell plans.
Throughout the show’s duration, stop by the Garden Gate Shop to browse a large selection of orchid plants, books and gardening accessories for both beginners and experienced growers. Proceeds support the Garden.

Several special events highlight the show’s opening weekend. Enjoy a special lecture on Friday, Jan. 29 at 4 p.m. by Alan Tan Chye Soon, assistant director of living collections at the Singapore Botanic Gardens and an award-winning floral display designer specializing in orchids. The lecture is free and open to the public. Become a Garden member to enjoy an invitation to the exclusive members-only Orchid Show preview evening on Friday, Jan. 29 from 5:30 to 8 p.m.; visit www.mobot.org/membership to join. Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 30 and 31, the Orchid Society of Greater St. Louis will present their annual show and sale from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Beaumont Room. Society members will be on hand to share information and advice on the care of orchids. Entry is included with Garden admission.

Admission to the Orchid Show is $5 per person (ages three and over), in addition to general Garden admission ($8; St. Louis City and County residents, $4 and free on Wednesday and Saturday mornings until noon; free children ages 12 and under). Garden members are admitted free to both the Garden and Orchid Show.

The Missouri Botanical Garden is located at 4344 Shaw Blvd. in south St. Louis, accessible from Interstate 44 at the Vandeventer exit and from Interstate 64 at the Kingshighway North & South exit. Free parking is available on-site at the west lot and two blocks west at the corner of Shaw and Vandeventer.

For general information, visit www.mobot.org or call the recorded event line at (314) 5779400 or toll-free 1 (800) 642-8842.

The Missouri Botanical Garden’s mission is “to discover and share knowledge about plants and their environment, in order to preserve and enrich life.” Today, 151 years after opening, the Missouri Botanical Garden is a National Historic Landmark and a center for science, conservation, education and horticultural display.

The Missouri Botanical Garden is located at 4344 Shaw Blvd. in St. Louis, just south of I-44 at Vandeventer-Kingshighway (exit #287B). Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except Dec. 25. Grounds open at 7 a.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays (exception: special admission rate events). Admission is $8; free children ages 12 and under and Garden members. St. Louis City and County residents are $4 and free Wednesdays and Saturdays until noon (exception: special admission rate events - third weekend of May, Labor Day weekend, and first weekend of October). Park for free on site and two blocks west at the Shaw-Vandeventer intersection. The Garden is easily accessible by taking the MetroLink commuter rail line to the Central West End station and picking up a Metro bus (www.metrostlouis.org). For general information, log on to www.mobot.org or call the 24-hour recording at (314) 577-9400 or 1 (800) 642-8842. For membership information, visit www.mobot.org/membership call (314) 577-5118 during weekday business hours. For volunteer opportunities, visit www.mobot.org/volunteer or call (314) 577-5187. The Missouri Botanical Garden is a tobacco-free environment. 

To view Missouri Botanical Garden’s web page on Zoo and Aquarium Visitor, go to:  http://www.zandavisitor.com/forumtopicdetail-1032-Missouri_Botanical_Garden