"Garfield Park Conservatory and Gardens... Grammatophyllum speciosum, is blooming...
Its move to the conservatory a few months ago required a box truck... Native to the rain forests of New Guinea, Indonesia and Malaysia... on a mature plant bloom only every two to four years... The plant stays in bloom for about two months. Slow to bloom in cultivation, this is only the fourth time this particular plant has produced flowers since being imported 40 years ago... The last public bloom of this species in the U.S. was in 2003 at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, where it received a lot of attention from national and international media. The first public viewing of the species in bloom was in 1851 at Crystal Palace in London. The specimen at the conservatory was grown by Erich Michel of the Hoosier Orchid Co... who has had it since 1994. It took 10 years to bloom for the first time. The plant has been allowed to grow large and has never been divided... It is expected to continue blooming into March" article URL : http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070217/LIVING02/702170390/1084 photo : http://cmsimg.indystar.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Dato=20070217&Kategori=LIVING02&Lopenr=702170390&Ref=AR&Q=80&MaxW=500&MaxH=400&Site=BG&Q=80&Border=0&Title=0 ************ Regards, VB _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
