By Teresa Woodard

Escape to a rainforest filled with hundreds of orchids –right here in the Midwest, not Panama or Colombia. The Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis will open its annual Orchid Show on January 28.

Step into a renowned collection of some 800 blooming orchids, including Cattleya, Laelia, Epidendrum, Oncidium, Paphiopedilum and other varieties. This year, the 5,000-square-foot Orthwein Hall will be transformed into an architecturally-inspired Chinese strolling garden with the 30 oversized, tasseled silk lanterns suspended overhead. Don’t miss the tour’s podcast in which you’ll learn tidbits like the orchid collection was once housed outside the city because of pollution and the conservatory once made $50,000 a year selling cut orchids to the floral trade.

Other Events:
Jan. 1-8 Pineapples & Pincushions – The Art & Science of Patterns in Nature at Matthaei Botanical Gardens, University of Michigan
Jan. 14 Treeswhispers Exhibition opens at Chicago Botanical Garden.
Jan. 14 Garden Dreams: A Saturday with the Portage County Master Gardener Volunteers
Amherst, WI
Jan. 18-20 Mid-Am Horticultural Trade Show, Chicago, Il
Jan. 22-25 OSU Nursery Short Course and P.L.A.N.T. Seminar, Columbus, OH
Feb. 4  Sustainability Symposium: Eat Your Yard, Cleveland Botanical Garden