Thursday, January 22, 2009

It's a dirty job...

This has been a very busy week for us between preparing for the upcoming Winter Carnival Orchid Show and undergoing a major show change in the Sunken Garden. This show change has been a bit more complicated than most because we are also replacing the hydronic heat system that warms the soil beds throughout the room. This involved digging out all 7,500 pounds of soil to remove the old heat pipes below. It was quite an undertaking for our staff but luckily we had help from a large number of volunteers. The installation of the new heat system is now almost complete. Tomorrow we will begin filling soil back into the beds and preparing them for planting. It will take most of next week to install the new show which will open Friday Jan. 30th. Although there is an absence of blooming plants in the Sunken Garden for now, the public can get their fill of flowers this weekend at the Orchid Show Jan 24 & 25. Hundreds of orchids from private collections as well as specimens from the Conservatory’s extensive collection will be on display throughout the Conservatory. Admission is $5.00 for Adults, $3.00 for Children 3-12, Under 3 FREE. Save $1.00 with Winter Carnival Button.