Here are some photos taken in the Orchid House at the Lincoln Park Conservatory in Chicago.
To give citizens an escape from factory lfe and city grime, , the Lincoln Park Commission decided to build a grand Victorian glasshouse in the 1890's
When it was completed, the conservatory was divided into distinct environments to showcase specific botanical collections:
- The Palm House: The first section to open to the public (in 1892), designed to showcase towering tropical palms and giant rubber trees.
- The Fern Room: Formed to highlight ancient, primordial plant species like ferns and cycads.
- The Orchid House: Historically dedicated to showcasing rare and exotic orchids alongside other epiphytes, bromeliads, and a serene koi pond.
- The Show House: A dedicated space used to propagate thousands of plants for the surrounding parks and to host rotating, vibrant seasonal floral displays.
The conservatory was an immediate success, visited by millions of visitors. The interior layout and historic, breathtaking Victorian framework remain almost exactly as they were when the doors first opened.
The Orchid House at the Lincoln Park Conservatory
Orchid House
Historically this room housed orchids. Today, it is home to many kinds of epiphytes.
Pronounced “eppy-fights,” these plants are defined by the way they live – by growing upon other plants, an adaptation for getting more light. They are not parasites, however; epiphytes get most of their water and nutrients from the air. Many different species of plants are epiphytic, including orchids, bromeliads, cacti, ferns, mosses, and lichens.
Of all the epiphytes, orchids are the most popular.
Once only available to rich people, today orchids are affordable houseplants that can be easy to grow if given the proper amount of light, water, humidity, and fertilizer. But growing orchids can be addicting. According to the American Orchd Society web page "Trying to own one orchid is like trying to eat one peanut."
These are photos of a few of the orchids that were blooming.
The Orchid that I chose to use for the cover photo is called Miltoniopsis (often called pansy orchids)
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