Episodes
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voice: Babs Wagner
Resource: Kemper Center fact sheet
I’m Babs Wagner and I take care of the Garden’s orchid collection. It’s one of the largest and finest in the country. We grow more than 8,000 orchid plants behind the scenes, in our greenhouses. They make up our largest living collection, representing over 2,500 unique species, varieties and hybrids. For this display, I try to show you as many different varieties as I can, so you can appreciate their amazing diversity.
We grow many rare and unusual specimens here. Some are over 100 years old. Many of the Cattleyas in this show are no longer available commercially. They were created many years ago and they are no longer produced.
Our collection emphasizes the kinds of orchids that can survive St. Louis’s hot summers. The stars of this show are the winter-bloomers. To get them to bloom on time, I manipulate the greenhouse temperatures, starting in October. The variety of orchids you see here changes over six weeks. We start with about 800. I switch out approximately 50 to 100 plants each week and replace them with fresh ones from the greenhouse. First thing every morning, I look for faded blossoms and slice them off with a sharp razor blade to keep the plants looking fresh. -
Voice: Jim Cocos
Resource: Talking Orchid script, Bulletin articles, 2005 and 2006 Orchid Show brochures, Public Relations fact sheet
I’m Jim Cocos, Vice President of Horticulture. Orchids are the largest family of flower plants in the world, with some 30 to 35,000 species. That’s nearly 10 percent of all flowering plants!
They grow on every continent except Antarctica. About 200 orchid species grow in North America. Thousands more grow in tropical countries. More than 3,500 species are found in Ecuador and more than 1,300 in Costa Rica.
Some orchid plants are less than an inch tall with flowers the size of a pinhead. Others grow up to 40 feet tall, with flowers almost a foot wide.
Orchids that grow on the ground absorb moisture and nutrients from the soil through their roots. Others grow on tree trunks or branches for support and never touch the ground. They have adapted to grow where water and nutrients are limited. A spongy covering on their roots helps soak up moisture.
Some orchids have roots that grow upwards, forming a basket to catch leaves and other debris that fall from the treetops.
Many orchids are incredibly fragrant, but not all of them smell sweet! Some smell musty and others actually stink. There’s a good reason for this – a strong scent attracts pollinators. Bees, flies, moths, butterflies, wasps, birds and beetles carry pollen from one flower to another. For an orchid to produce seeds, it must receive pollen from another orchid of the same species.
An orchid fruit can contain up to a million seeds! The seeds are as small as a speck of dust, and weigh almost nothing, so they are easily blown by the wind. That’s how they spread from one place to another. -
Missing episodes?
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Voice: Deb Springer
I’m Deborah Springer and I’d like to tell you about an unusual and fascinating orchid. The Madagascar Star Orchid, also known as “Darwin’s orchid,” blooms only once a year. Charles Darwin suggested that this species and its pollinator, the hawk-moth, provided a dramatic example of co-evolution - how plants and their pollinators influence each other. This flower grows an incredibly long tubular extension, called a nectar spur, up to 11 inches long. A very long spur forces a moth to rub its face in the pollen as it reaches for the nectar. This successfully pollinates the orchid. Over time, the hawk-moth responded to the difficulty of reaching the nectar, its main food source, by growing an even longer tongue. Eventually the moth could reach the nectar without touching the pollen. So the orchid responded by growing an even longer nectar spur, which forced the moth to pollinate it.
When Darwin first proposed this scenario, the orchid had been discovered, but the hawk-moth had not. Darwin believed the orchid’s impressive nectar spur must have co-evolved with a pollinator. Therefore, he suspected a moth with an equally impressive long tongue surely must exist in Madagascar. Everyone doubted Darwin, until 40 years later… when a hawk-moth was discovered in Madagascar - with a 10-inch tongue. -
Voice: Jennifer Wolff
I’m Jennifer Wolff. Our orchids have a long and proud history at the Garden, but they didn’t always grow here. Back in 1926, the orchids were threatened by dirty city air from coal smoke and industrial pollution. So, the Garden moved them 30 miles west, out to Gray Summit, to what is now the Shaw Nature Reserve. Greenhouses were built there especially for this purpose. The next year, in 1927, an orchid seedling department was started.
From the late 1920’s until 1958, the Garden sold cut orchid flowers to local florists. This business grossed over $700,000, and made up to $50,000 at one time. The sale of orchids covered all costs associated with the collection, as well as the operation of what was then known as the Shaw Arboretum.
Through propagation, gifts and collecting, the orchid collection grew in size and prominence. In 1954, St. Louis hosted the first World Orchid Congress. By 1958, the city’s air quality had improved, and so the orchid collection returned to its original home here at the Garden, where it has remained ever since. -
Voice: Babs Wagner
Resources: Public Relations fact sheet, Bulletin articles, Kemper Center handout
I’m Peter Raven. The Garden’s orchid collection has a historic connection with one of St. Louis’s longest standing traditions. The Veiled Prophet Parade is one of the country’s oldest parades. The first one was held here in 1878, sponsored by a group of civic leaders who wanted to promote St. Louis commerce. It was modeled on New Orleans’ Mardi Gras celebration. Today, the annual Veiled Prophet Parade in July continues to draw crowds by the thousands. The Garden supplies fresh orchids for the mysterious Veiled Prophet’s float. It is the only community event for which the Garden provides cut orchids.
The Garden first provided freshly cut orchids in 1926 for a massive bouquet carried by the Veiled Prophet’s “Queen of Love and Beauty.” For many years, on the day after the coronation ball, this bouquet was displayed at the Garden. In 1947, approximately 5,000 curious visitors came in one day to see the Queen’s bouquet on display in the greenhouse! The Veiled Prophet Queen’s bouquet measures up to 3 feet long and 2 feet across, and contains hundreds of blossoms. All of the orchids are selected two days before the ball, to ensure the finest flowers are chosen. -
Voice: Pat Scace
I’m Pat Scace, the exhibit designer. Our exhibit begins as a concept between my assistant and me more than a year before its installation. We change themes each year. Props are designed by us and built by volunteers specific to each show. The display is installed by a team of volunteers and the Horticulture Division staff.
Each orchid plant here is part of our permanent collection. We display them to look as natural as possible with epiphytic orchids in trees and terrestrials on the ground. Surrounded by bark and a surface treatment of moss, our temporary landscape is meant to be as realistic as possible. When the show ends, everything is dismantled and the plants are returned to the production greenhouses until next year.
You can see how it all comes together on the Garden’s Web site, mobot-dot-org. Check out the photos of the installation in progress. -
Voice: Chip Tynan
Resources: Kemper Center fact sheets, Plant Doctor
I’m Chip Tynan of the Horticulture Answer Service. The Garden offers a number of sources for plant care advice. You can call us on weekday mornings at (314) 577-5143. For fact sheets prepared by the Kemper Center for Home Gardening, go online to the Web site, www-dot-gardeninghelp-dot-org. The Garden also offers classes for both novice and experienced orchid growers. Stop by the Kemper Center to use reference materials or ask for guide sheets on growing and caring for orchids. You can also bring in a sick plant to our walk-in Plant Doctor for identification and problem diagnosis services.
Our gift shop sells plants, orchid care products and lots of gardening books and accessories. Plant society shows and sales at the Garden offer another opportunity to buy orchids, ask questions, and get advice from knowledgeable members. The Orchid Society of St. Louis hosts events at the Garden in April and August. -
Voice: Lisa Brandon
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