Wild Orchids Forever Stamps!
On Friday, Feb. 21, the United States Postal Service (USPS) will be launching a new series of first class forever stamps, “Wild Orchids”, at the AOS Library at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, Florida. The ceremony is at 11am, and after the introductions, they will have First Day Covers available for sale. Full details of the stamps and the event are posted on the AOS’s website. These beautiful stamps represent ten different wild orchids of the U.S. If you haven’t visited the AOS Library yet, it’s upstairs at the Fairchild visitor center.
Now Showing
Although we don’t have any jade vine flowers this week (sorry), we are watching several stems of buds developing and we anticipate more in the next week or two. It’s the main blooming season for it now, so we should have a spectacular display soon! Meanwhile the Indian clock vine is putting on quite a show, and so are the winter-flowering clerodendrums. The Central American cattleyas are in full bloom, too. Some of the Oncidium Twinkles are starting to flower; these cuties are very, very fragrant!
You can see all of this, and lots (lots!) more on one of our free weekend garden tours. This is an escorted walking tour of Bob’s and Mike’s private garden, which we do, weather permitting, on Saturdays and Sundays at 11am and 3pm. No reservation is necessary, just please be here on time and meet your guide at the bridge. Wear comfy shoes, too. We can also arrange for private tours for groups at other times, with advance reservation and a nominal fee (private tours affect our staffing for the day), just contact us to set it up.
Property Rentals
We get a lot of inquiries about renting the front garden area for events. Please have a look at the Banyan Pavilion’s page for more information. You can also download our FAQ about the rentals. The PDF includes basic facility information, and how to contact our Events Manager. (You’ll need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this file)
Looking for a Gift?
Nobody would be happier than us if all our orchids were in bloom all the time! But the truth is that they aren’t, so please be reminded that a photo in the catalog doesn’t mean the plant is blooming at the time you place an order! Our standard policy is to ship plants in spike if we have them at the time of the order. Some of our orchids – the species, particularly – are very seasonal and only bloom at a certain time of the year; we try to include that bloom season in the description. Some orchids can bloom more than once a year (we try to note that, too), but not a single one blooms every day of the year. So if you’re purchasing orchids for a gift, and you want something in bloom, the best thing is to contact us by phone or email so we can help select something blooming.