Orchid Festival paying tribute to Costa Rica at Q Gardens in London

Published: 03/02/2022 – 20:26Changed: 03/02/2022 – 20:25

Among the plants on display, this Central American national flower is known for its efforts to protect the environment: from the now-extinct Guarianthe skinneri pink to fuchsia petals, which grow in moist forests or on the branches and trunks of granite trees. Rocks at a certain height.

The exhibition, which is scheduled to take place in a greenhouse with tropical conditions until March 6, will also feature Costa Rican fauna, along with sculptures of animals such as turtles housed inside plants.

“We tried to bring as many colors as possible to take people to this kind of pleasant world of Costa Rica,” Henk Rowling, a volunteer florist at Que Garden, told AFP.

The Dutchman, who dyed his beard and hair in pink and orange to match the orchids, points out that the exhibition is the result of a two-year reflection after it was canceled in 2021 due to an epidemic.

Impressive compounds arise in water, ferns and other plants such as monstera. Since the factories began arriving in January, they have been assembled by hand and worked for weeks by dozens of staff and volunteers.

“It is one of the largest families of plants and (orchids) have impressive shapes, colors, other adaptations and co-evolution with their pollinators,” said Alberto Trinco, a greenhouse manager with AFP.

Teaching is also featured in Costa Rica with over 1,600 species, along with descriptions of orchids and their use in celebrations.

Mr. According to Trinco, “celebrating its biodiversity is its efforts to protect the environment and its culture.”

“In Costa Rica, there are many species that you will not find anywhere else,” said AFP Alex Monroe, a botanist at Q Gardens who specializes in finding new plant species in the tropics.

© 2022 AFP