Get your suitcase and passports ready! It’s time to go on an around-the-world adventure and see the most exquisite orchids from Asia, Europe, and South Africa!
National Orchid Garden Singapore
Inside the world-class Singapore Botanic Gardens, the National Orchid Garden has a number of remarkable orchid attractions, such as:
- The Cool House - which simulates a tropical highland cloud forest, complete with carnivorous plants and cool-growing orchid species
- Tan Hoon Siang Misthouse - home to an extensive collection of prized and award-winning orchid cultivars
- VIP Orchid Garden – an orchid exhibit devoted to species named after foreign dignitaries who visited the country, such as Prince William and Duchess Katherine.
- Celebrity Orchid Garden – a botanical version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. See the Dendrobium Jackie Chan orchid, an orchid species christened after everyone’s favorite martial arts actor.
Hold your Singapore trip until 2019 when its 35-million-Singaporean-dollar renovation is finally completed.
Akatsuka Orchid Gardens, Hawaii
Akatsuka Orchid Gardens is a leading Cattleya orchid grower and retailer in the country. It is found in a gorgeous tropical island that is Hawaii, close to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on Big Island.
This orchid paradise boasts of a 13,000-sq. ft. showroom that is filled with over 500 orchid plants, from dendrobiums, phalaenopsis, militonia, odontoglossums, and other orchid varieties. The display also features their mother plants and orchid hybrids.
Visit between the months of May and August and you just might witness the Volcano Queen orchid, more popularly known as the “$20,000 dollar orchid plant,” in bloom!
According to the website, the business was first founded in 1974 by Japanese expert orchid grower, Mr. Moriyasu Akatsuka. It’s now managed by his son, Takeshi Akatsuka.
Gothenburg Botanical Garden, Sweden
Dubbed as the biggest botanical garden not only in Sweden but in all of Europe, Gothenburg Botanical Garden is set on a sprawling 175 hectares of land devoted to a nature reserve and an arboretum.
Based on their website, their orchid collection consists of about 1,600 orchid species divided into four orchid houses, according to climates. Mostly epiphytes, the orchid plants in this Swedish orchid haven are at their most beautiful during the months of March and April.
The exceptional terrestrial orchid, Disa uniflora and other rare insect-eating orchid plants are a few of the must-see orchid species here.
Orchid Garden Kuala Lumpur (Taman Orkid)
Thriving with thousands of orchid species native to Malaysia, Taman Orkid is one of the main attractions of the Lake Gardens. At about a hectare, you can see close to 6,000 colorful orchid species in one location. The park is open to the public every day, with educational tours on weekends. The neighboring Hibiscus Gardens is also worth visiting.
Durban Botanic Gardens, South Africa
The Durban Botanic Gardens is the oldest and South Africa’s oldest botanical garden. It spans an area of 15 hectares and enjoys a subtropical climate.
Its vast orchid collection can be found in the Ernest Thorp Orchid Display House, which was named in memory of one of the garden’s late curator from 1950 to 1975. Thorp started the garden’s now 8,000-strong orchid plant collection.
While it possesses various orchids from over 75 natural and man-made genera and different species and hybrids, the South African orchid garden is most proud of its cattleya orchids.
In its website, the Durban Botanic Gardens proudly announced its plan to expand its collection of Madagascan and African orchids and to cultivate the said orchid species from seed and tissue culture as a part of its orchid conservation efforts.
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