Orchids and chandeliers

These are simply two of my favourite things. I have Pinterest boards of chandeliers AND orchids - but they were separate in my mind.

I just came upon a wonderful concept, courtesy of New York Botanical Garden. Its spring show will set out to create living chandeliers with orchids.

Normally, when you think of hanging orchids, you think of them in the Victorian-style wooden baskets, or tucked into bark and moss constructions to create the impression they are growing in trees.

Here, however, eye-catching baskets and cylinders will be filled with the stunning tropical flowers to decorate the Seasonal Exhibition Galleries in the Garden’s Victorian-style glasshouse - the largest of its kind in the country. A giant star-shaped chandelier will, we are told, be overflowing with hundreds of orchids as the centerpiece of this year’s visual extravaganza.

Varieties will include Cattleya and Phalaenopsis, and the largest of the chandeliers will stretch across the four beams of the Conservatory’s corner house. Pools of water will reflect the spectacle of orchids in the containers that hang above, while beds of Cymbidium and other orchid species will captivate the viewer from below.

The Orchid Show: Chandeliers spotlights the huge diversity of these spectacular flowers from around the globe.

The exhibition runs from 28 February to 19 April, 2015.

By Pamela Kelt