Visitors to the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park were treated to a feast for the senses this weekend during the annual showcase of rare and exotic orchids from around the world.
Floral fragrances filled the air from the hundreds of colourful blooms on display and for sale at the Orchid Show on Saturday and Sunday.
The Cayman Islands Orchid Society first started exhibition shows about 30 years ago to educate visitors on Cayman’s native species and the importance of preserving them.
The shows have since grown, with this year’s turnout close to 1,000 people, the park’s general manager John Lawrus told the Compass.
He described orchids as having an “exotic appeal and rareness quality” which makes them popular with growers and enthusiasts alike.
Protected species
During the weekend, members of the society displayed a personal collection of orchids inside the Kirkland Nixon Visitors’ Centre.
Visitors were given the opportunity to choose from hundreds of orchids to buy from a dedicated nursery – with funds raised going to both the park and the society.
Shari Smith, vice president of the society, explained that along with storms, development is one of the biggest threats to wild orchids.
“If there’s development going on, we want to be notified so that we can go in and speak to the developer in terms of relocating those species,” she told the Compass.
Many of the species rescued from development have been relocated to the orchid conservation area within the botanic park.
Orchids are a diverse family of flowering plants with about 25,000 different species that are found all over the world.
The Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park is home to 10 of the 26 orchid species recorded to be from the Cayman Islands – all of which are protected.
The national flower of the Cayman Islands is the wild banana orchid, which has two flower varieties with white or pale-yellow petals.
A bench in the children’s park, designed by artist Joseph Betty and funded by the society, has been sculpted to look like a wild banana orchid on a tree trunk.
The orchid show is just one of the many events held at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park throughout the year. Visit the park’s website for more information.
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