Image: Paulo Marcelo Rayner
Orchids in Landscaping
Orchids have attracted the attention of humans since ancient times. Theophrastos (372 B.C. - 287 B.C.) already portrayed in his books his interest in these plants. At that time, these plants were not even called orchids, as the Orchidaceae family was only made official in the books almost a thousand years later.
The rise of orchids began in the mid-1800s in Europe during the great navigations, being known as the royal plants, since only the monarchy was able to access these plants that were collected in the Americas and taken to Europe. In other words, more than 200 years have passed and orchids continue to be admired and desired by a large legion of orchid lovers.
And why do orchids attract so much interest? This success is due to the variety of flower shapes, colors and aromas.
The Orchidaceae family is one of the largest botanical families on the planet. They present flowers of the most diverse morphologies, colors and aromas. Likewise, leaves, pseudobulbs and even roots show morphological variations between species.
Image: Paulo Marcelo Rayner
Another point that favored the popularization of orchids is the ease of producing hybrids. This allowed growers to play with shapes and colors, producing plants from crosses of species and even different genera. This increased the diversity of orchids available on the market on an unimaginable scale.
Contrary to what many think and propagate, orchids are not fragile or complex to grow. There are species that need some care and require more specific growing conditions. However, most people end up generalizing cultivation conditions. In other words, the problem is not in the orchid, but in the lack of knowledge. Knowing the plant with which you intend to work is essential for a quality service.
Image: Paulo Marcelo Rayner
It is a fact that when someone buys an orchid they are thinking about its flower, but knowing the orchid that one intends to work with will be of great value. Most orchids bloom at certain times of the year. This is a very interesting aspect because, even if an orchid will not present flowers all year round, it is possible to select species strategically so that there is a flowering orchid for much of the year.
Thus, we can also think of the orchid as an element of landscape projects. In this case, the customer will almost always have a flowering orchid to admire and will always be a different orchid. Thus, the landscape composition is not monotonous and without news for long periods of the year.
Certain species of orchids that can be used in environments with high light, or even full sun, and that have long periods with flowers reaching more than 1 year. In other words, it is possible to have a flowering orchid all year round and not just during flowering seasons. In fact, not all orchids have this characteristic, but knowing the right species you will be able to offer your customer a flower garden all year round.
In addition, indoor environments can also be ornamented with orchids, just knowing which plant to use and how to make it. In addition to the glamor of orchids, the environment can be naturally fragrant. Since there are a large number of orchids that present the most varied fragrances.
In summary, using orchids in landscape projects is certainly something that adds value to the project due to the intrinsic beauty and nobility of these plants. However, for this service to be delivered correctly, it is necessary to have knowledge of the subject and learn from a trained professional.
By: Paulo Marcelo Rayner – Doctor of Botany – Specialist in Orchids – Director of Plantarum
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