The “Orchid Rodeo” is in full swing at the Cleveland Botanical Garden. The event opened on Saturday, Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day, and will remain open to the public until April 5. The show features over 3,000 flowers, and each section of the garden offers its own twist on orchids. This year’s orchid bloom is accompanied by Wild West Americana theming. Near the entrance, a sign compares orchid organs (lateral petals, column, dorsal sepal and lateral sepals) to the parts of a cowboy hat (hatband, crown, brim and roll).
Further along, visitors are met by a blue-vested volunteer with a patch reading “Ambassador.” One of these ambassadors is Mary Ann, a volunteer of nine years at the Holden Forests & Gardens.
“I started out as a garden assistant, so I worked in the gardens outside,” says Mary Ann. “Then the ambassador position started two years ago, and I started doing this. I really enjoyed it.” In response to being asked what she gained from helping at the gardens, Mary Ann says, “They’ll give me plants that I can take home and plant in my own gardens.” So far, she has been given hellebores, which flower in late winter, and a rose bush. Her favorite exhibit of the show is the specialty orchids for smelling.
Back in the Wild West of Orchids, a row of five booths displays pots of orchids. Out of the five sniffing stations, the hybrid “Miltoniopsis Amber x Cindy Kane” seems to be the only booth with a scent. The smell carries a hint of cleanliness, as if someone spoke the words “laundry sheets” into the wind.
“Some people will get a different scent than somebody else will,” Mary Ann chuckles, “depending on your biology.”
Working on Valentine’s Day, she quickly finds a couple looking around, seemingly lost, and directs them to a circular room filled with silk paintings.
In this room, an explosion of vibrant yellows, pinks, reds and violets erupts from a bed of green leaves, and moss is draped over a grand piano. Below, a stack of boxes filled with fake dynamite sits next to a detonator cartoonishly labelled “TNT.” Surrounding the acoustic centerpiece, vertical silk paintings adorn the walls and serve as a silent audience. Painted by Gunter Schwegler, a Cleveland Heights resident, his artist statement exclaims, “My work is a celebration of life.” His scenes depict calm landscapes and floral still lifes. The narrow framing slowly guides the viewer’s gaze up and down, as if floating down a lazy river. In “Backyard Haven,” a heron stands in the bottom of the lower half of the silk. Its face is a mix of peach and grey, bordered by gold ridges that rise off the surface. These outlines in silver or gold that enclose each shape of analogous color remain consistent across Schwegler’s silks. While each leaf or flower petal ranges different shades of the same hue, Schwegler creates contrast by putting shapes against each other to create dramatic displays of natural beauty. The effort put into these works doesn’t go unnoticed. “Intertwined,” a complex layering of flowers of every color and shape on silk, proudly displays a red sticker, signifying a sale of at least $400.
Beyond the gallery, more wild west decorations line the walkway. Bandanas are tied across flanking walls of rock like pennant flags. In one corner, a sculpture of a tornado emerges from the earth, composed of white folds that resemble marshmallows. Further inspection shows a cowboy falling off his horse, a cactus sprouting and, of course, more orchids to remind the visitors of the theme.
Despite the event, the animals that inhabit the gardens year-round continue to serve as the center of attention for garden goers. Matt Edwards, an animal care specialist, holds Gene Simmons, a red and green chameleon named after a member in the metal band KISS, for his white lips and long tongue. Edwards points to a bird with an orange coat and explains to a visitor that it is a red bishop weaver. The gardens are home to orange-cheeked waxbills, yellow bishop weavers, a blue-billed teal and the elusive pin-tailed whydah. Edwards describes the whydah as a “white and black bird with a tail about eight inches long.” He adds, “There’s only one male here.”
Before the breeding season, increased testosterone levels stimulate plumage growth, creating long ribbons of feathers to complement the songbird’s mating dance. A volunteer behind him says that the birds also display their orange beaks. The two go back and forth on the various traits of the whydah, which remains yet to be seen. As Edwards mentions that male whydahs lose their tail at the end of the breeding season, he spots a flash of black and white behind a curtain of branches. The whydah takes off and flies past his head to land in a taller tree. A small crowd forms to look at what has been distracting the two helpers, but the group loses interest, leaving the whydah to continue its song out of sight.
Walking through the air lock to exit the animal exhibit, the air shifts from dry to tropical. Stepping into the forest atrium, purple and white orchids reflect off puddles, and the trees cast large shadows on the ground. In the shade, the world moves more slowly. A man dressed in a white sweater leads a woman to a small clearing. He drops to one knee and pulls out a ring, causing her to gasp. A pot of orchids with photos of the fiancée and her father gaze toward the crowd. The newly-engaged couple embrace after the successful proposal.
Along a narrow walkway, Yolonda Lyons, a visitor, appreciates the large faces of an orchid growing on a tree. She explains that the flowers make her feel sentimental.
“It reminds me of Thailand,” Lyons says. “What I love are the colors and the differences.” Her hand meets one of the orchids.“They’re so simple, yet so beautiful.”