dancing lady orchid | The Worley Gig

All Photos By Gail

When I check the calendar on my iPhone, it’s easy to isolate March 7th, the day I visited the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden, as the last time I attended a public event at any cultural institution. Maybe ten days later, the NYBG, like every other art museum, gallery and event space in NYC, closed for an indeterminate period of time as part of the Covid-19 shelter-in-place order. The new normal for many of us living in the city means life with little or no contact with nature and art: which is just unacceptable. For this reason, Worleygig.com brings you Art in the Time of Covid. Today we are going to revisit NYBG Orchid Show!

Corsage Orchid

While the Garden is thankfully being tended to by groundskeepers during its closure, the Orchid Show, originally scheduled to run through April 19th, will not reopen this year. If you missed it, you at can least peruse a selection of photos I took during my visit to make you feel as if you were there (#livethroughme)

Jeff Leatham’s Kaleidoscope Orchid Show (Click Image to Enlarge for Detail)

This year’s 18th annual Orchid Show, entitled Kaleidoscope, was created by Jeff Leatham, famed artistic director of the Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris. Leatham’s bold and colorful vision unfolded through captivating installations and designs, transforming each gallery of the exhibition in the historic glass Enid A. Haupt Conservatory into a different color experience and visual effect, like the turn of a kaleidoscope.

Enid A. Haupt Conservatory

Thousands of orchids provided bursts of forms and colors — in purples, reds, oranges, and hot pink — revealed through overhead arches, vine-inspired ribbons, mirrored sculpture, dramatic lighting, and other artistic embellishments.

I didn’t make note of the majority the names of these species, so I will just post for the enjoyment of how lovely they are. All flowers will be presented in the order in which they were seen by me as I travelled through the conservatory!

I believe that there is no better way to improve your skills as a photographer than to take photos of flowers. Who agrees?

This is one of my favorites. Do you wonder why there are so many different types of orchids? Different orchid species evolved to attract specific animal pollinators. Sometimes a flower’s color can hint at its unique pollination mechanism.

Some white and light-colored orchids attract nocturnal moths. Their pale coloration reflects moonlight and makes them visible to moths that can only distinguish between light and dark.

The NYBG Orchid Show Continues, With Many More Photos, After the Jump!

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All Photos By Gail. Click on Any Image to Enlarge

The Orchid Show is going on now at the New York Botanical Garden and I made the trek from the East Village all the way to the Bronx today with my friend Diane (aka Diaaahhhhne) to check out the flowers and enjoy a day outside in the 50 degree sunshine. Because winter is almost over!

There was a little bit of snow still on the grounds from last week’s storm. It was pretty!

Even though it is still a bit chilly out, you’ll be nice and warm inside the glass domes of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, which has been climate controlled to mimic rain forests and other climates in which the orchids live.

Enid A. Haupt Conservatory

If you looked through a slide show of the 80 some odd photos I took on my visit, you’d probably conclude that I took 80 photos of purple flowers but, as you’ll see, orchids come in innumerable subtle variations of shades of purple and violet, as well as many other different colors.

Note that although the flower’s color seems washed out from the sun, it is still vibrantly reflected in the water.

Close Up of the Previous Photo. I am not sure what these orchids are called but they look like Leopard Orchids to me!

The show is set up in several rooms throughout the conservatory. In one room a soothing, ambient soundtrack played that reminded me very much of Brian Eno’s Music for Airports. Diane said that the music made her feel like she was getting a massage.