Magnificent orchid festival returns to Kew Gardens (From Wandsworth Guardian)

Magnificent orchid festival returns to Kew Gardens

4:37pm Monday 28th January 2013 in Freetime By Amy Dyduch

The Princess of Wales Conservatory will be transformed into a sea of flowers this month as Kew Gardens opens its Orchid festival.

Kew is home to one of the world’s oldest and most comprehensive species orchid collection.

The Princess of Wales Conservatory displays a small part of the collection on rotation.

Vibrant orchids will dominate the wet tropical zone of the Princess of Wales Conservatory.

The world’s richest concentration of orchid varieties is found in the tropics and they are one of the two largest families of flowering plants.

Organisers at Kew hope the orchid festival will provide the perfect backdrop for a Valentine’s Day stroll as visitors marvel at the vast collection on display.

Phil Griffiths, display manager at Kew Gardens, says: “This year the Princess of Wales Conservatory at Kew is going to have thousands of richly coloured orchids on display.

“The wider variety of colour will create a warm and tropical escape from the wintry conditions of February, as well as complement our species orchid collection which represents Kew’s conservation work around the world.”

Orchids at Kew; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; February 9 to March 3; Free to £16.