Once more with feeling: ‘The Orchid Show’ is back at NYBG

Orchids burst forth from a fractured mirrored disk in “The Orchid Show: Jeff Leatham’s Kaleidoscope,” through May 1 at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx.

“The Orchid Show” has returned to the New York Botanical Garden – the same thing only different.

You may remember that “Jeff Leatham’s Kaleidoscope” had just opened in 2020 when it was cut short by Covid. Now the floral designer – artistic director of the Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris, who has studios at the Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center and the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills – has totally reimagined his kaleidoscopic theme, capitalizing on the idea that orchids are epiphytes or air plants.

Leatham’s designs shimmer like floral chandeliers or drip like Spanish moss. They dot tree bark and break free from a cleft mirrored disk in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory’s Palm Court.

Air plants, orchids easily hang like chandeliers.

Orchids are among the hardiest of plants, spanning millions of years and some 28,000 species on every continent except Antarctica. So why do they seem so darn difficult?

It’s that Goldilocks effect. They like water but not wetness, humidity but not high heat, sunlight but not full sun. Being air plants, they need special orchid fertilizer but not potting soil.

If you can get beyond their “princess in the pea”-ness, they’ll seduce you with their elusive beauty. And even if they cannot tempt you to take them home, they’ll enchant you in the exhibit, which is on view through May 1.

Need some orchid whispering? We at The Morano Group can help you with your plant needs.

For more on the show, visit nybg.org.