An orchid exhibition will be held at the University of Tartu Botanical Garden from 28 February to 9 March. Similar to last year, this year you can see exciting orchid species directly from Ecuador. As part of the exhibition, there will also be an orchid competition, in which you can take part with your own orchid. The exhibition program is filled with exciting events, workshops and excursions.
Like last year, this year's ten-day orchid exhibition will feature various orchid species from Ecuador, from the local orchid garden Ecuagenera. The difference is that this year many of them will be showing their flowers for the first time. Among the exhibition plants are species that are more widely distributed in Central and South America, but also species that are unique to Ecuador and have a very narrow natural range, or endemics.
During the orchid exhibition, workshops will be held in the botanical garden on March 1 and 8 at 2 pm, where orchids will be introduced and tips for caring for them will be given. The workshops will be conducted by botanical garden gardeners Ingrid Akkermann and Anni Oja, who have improved their knowledge at the Lankester Botanical Garden in Costa Rica and Ecuagenera in Ecuador, one of the areas of activity of which is the propagation and reintroduction of local orchids.
The workshop will be based on the botanical garden's own plants. Up to 12 people can participate in the workshop at a time, and participation is paid - 10 euros per person. To participate, pre-registration is required at botaed@ut.ee or by phone 737 6180. For more information about the workshops, contact Anni Oja, cashmir@gmail.com.
In addition to the workshops, there will also be guided tours during the orchid exhibition. The tours will take place on 28 February, 1–2 and 7–9 March at 11 am. Participation in the tour is free, the ticket price per person is 10 euros and a maximum of 12 people can take part in one tour. To participate, you need to pre-register at botaed@ut.ee or by phone at 737 6180.
As part of the orchid exhibition, an orchid-themed seminar will be held on March 4 at 10 a.m. in the Rose House of the University of Tartu Botanical Garden (Lai 40, Tartu). The speakers at the seminar will be announced soon, and the event will be moderated by Margus Kasterpalu. The seminar will be held in cooperation with the Estonian Orchid Conservation Club, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
An orchid competition will also be held as part of the orchid exhibition, and anyone who has an interesting orchid blooming at home is welcome to participate. The top three winners of the orchid competition will be awarded on March 9 at 12 noon. More information about the orchid competition can be found here. The orchid competition is supported by Ecoshop.
The orchid exhibition at the University of Tartu Botanical Garden will take place from February 28 to March 9. For the orchid exhibition, the botanical garden will be open a little longer than usual on weekdays: you can visit the exhibition from Monday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm. In addition to the orchid exhibition, you can also see Katrin Mäeots' orchid-themed photo exhibition in the botanical garden classroom at the same time. The photo exhibition is open from February 28 to March 31, admission is with a botanical garden greenhouse ticket.
All orchid enthusiasts can buy plants. Orchids will be sold at the University of Tartu Botanical Garden by the florist Rikets during the exhibition.