Tending Orchids at Cleveland Botanical Garden's Orchid Mania

Each year in late February and March, Cleveland Botanical Garden in Cleveland's University Circle cultural district erupts with color for Orchid Mania. The month-long show features hundreds of delicate orchids of all colors, shapes and sizes. Keeping these tropical beauties healthy is no easy task in the middle of the often frigid Northeast Ohio winter. According to Nate Tschaenn, Glasshouse Specialist at Cleveland Botanical Garden, "Orchids are surprisingly tough and durable plants." He says that most of the plants easily last for the entire show and beyond. What are the secrets for getting orchids to thrive in this climate? Tschaenn recommends daily mistings and frequent waterings, which are necessary for the orchids exhibited outside of the Garden's Glasshouse. Inside, the plants just need weekly watering.

Many of these exotic plants come from right here in Northeast Ohio. One of the suppliers is Windswept in Time Orchids in Broadview Heights, which has been working with Cleveland Botanical Garden from the very first Orchid Mania. According to Edgar Stehli of Windswept in Time Orchids, all of the orchids at the show are tropical in nature. To get the plants to the show in pristine condition, they "pack the plants in cardboard boxes and cover them with an insulating material to prevent damage from the cold weather."

Orchid Mania runs through March 28 at the Cleveland Botanical Garden. In addition to the orchid show, the Garden offers a variety of permanent Glasshouse gardens, including the Spiny Desert of Madagascar and the Rain Forest of Costa Rica. The Garden is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday evenings, the Garden stays open until 9 p.m. Orchid Mania is free with Garden admission. Adults pay $7.50 to get in and admission is $3.50 for children ages 3 to 12. Children under 3 are admitted free. Those age 60 and older pay $5.50 on Tuesdays, and everyone pays $5 on Wednesdays after 5 p.m.

Windswept in Time Orchids welcomes the public to visit their greenhouse by appointment.

Cleveland Botanical Garden
1030 East Blvd.
Cleveland, OH 44106
216-721-1600
http://www.cbgarden.org

Windswept in Time Orchids
8066 Skyline Drive
Broadview Heights, OH 44147
440-838-5757