Paris, France — An opulent orchid exhibition is underway in one of the delightful greenhouses of the Botanical Gardens of France’s National History Museum in Paris, taking the visitor on a journey into the fascinating, diverse world of orchids, a world of over 25,000 known species, spread out all over the planet, even in non-tropical zones. The museum is holding this highly popular and instructive exhibition for the 12th time and the museum’s gardeners and botanists are all on hand offering explanations and intriguing anecdotes. Orchid growers are also on the agenda along with orchid collectors, all enjoying animated discussions with visitors. The show is a spectacular parade of colors, shapes and for some of the orchids beautiful perfumes for not all orchids are fragrant. The City of Paris and its greenhouses are contributing specimens to the show as they have done since the inception of the event while six orchid producers have staged spectacular orchid shows within. A special pathway through the show has been created by Christophe Duminil who is in charge of the orchid collections of the French Senate, one of the finest and largest in Europe. This year the orchid exhibition is complemented by a series of photographs taking the visitor into the lands from where the orchids come. Conferences, educational displays, workshops and an ephemeral boutique devoted to orchids are all on the agenda along with daily talks on wild orchids. The orchid exhibition runs until March 10th. And the greenhouses in and of themselves are worth a visit.

©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette
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