Paul Collicutt

Orchid Festival 2015: the pollinators are coming...

Sat 7 February 2015 - Sun 22 March 2015

Botanic Garden

Orchids are considered amongst the most exotic and alluring of flowers, but their scent and beauty have not evolved to ensure the plants end up as impulse purchases in the supermarket trolley! Petal shape, nectar reward, triggers, traps, scent and glowing colours are just a few of the tricks that orchids employ to attract a vast array of animal pollinators. This cast includes iridescent bees, wasps, moths with super-long tongues, flies and jewel-coloured hummingbirds, all of which will be paying the Garden’s Orchid Festival a visit - in giant, cut-out form!

Orchids are found the world over, their diversity the result of co-evolved relationships between plant and pollinator. For example, in South America, huge, shiny male euglossine bees harvest scents from rainforest orchids, store them in large armoured pouches on their hind legs, and then release them to attract female bees. In collecting the scents, the bees dislodge special pollen packets which are then carried to the next orchid, effecting pollination. This is just one of six amazing orchid pollinator stories that will feature in the Orchid Festival.

There'll be magnificent displays of popular orchid species and hybrids including suspended globes of Oncidium and pedestals of slipper orchids floating over open water. Throughout the tropical rainforest displays the focus is on wild orchid species. These will be grouped to show particular adaptations ranging from incredibly long nectar spurs to the stink of rotting flesh. New and fun ways to engage visitors with the ingenious biology of orchids include huge Judge Dredd style hummingbirds and giant thynnid wasps!

Throughout the Festival, you can make the most of your lunch hour by joining a free tour at 1pm on Thursdays and on Wednesday 18 February 2015 the Glasshouse Range stays open late until 8.30pm for Twilight at the Museums, a unique opportunity to explore the Orchid Festival by torchlight (who knows what might be revealed under ultraviolet…). Plus our expert staff have joined forces with the team at the Museum of Zoology to offer special talk and tour workshops.

Cost: Normal Garden admission applies: £5.50 gift aid, £5.00 standard adult admission; children go free