This 'n That Thursdays: Orchid Madness at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia

Orchid information display just inside the entry to the
visitor center/conservatory.

This past Saturday my husband and I stopped by the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens to visit their February display for an event they are calling Orchid Madness.  Orchids seem to enjoy flowering in February (our own small collection is starting to bud as well), adding some welcome color to this cold and dreary month.  While the state botanical garden does not have anywhere near the extensive collection that the Atlanta Botanical Garden owns, what they do have is lovely and made for a bright spot on an overcast day.  Here are a few of the photos I took of their beautiful orchids:

A tree branch painted white and wound with twinkle lights
is hung with tiny pots of miniature orchids (all for sale!).

A variety of lovely displays.

Orchid information poster (in case you want to actually
read this, I kept the original photo file size, so just
click on it to enlarge).

I hope you really love orchids, because I have an insane number of gorgeous close-up shots to share (it really was Orchid Madness at the Garden!).  Remember, you have been warned!

My husband was fascinated by these very tiny little orchid flowers.

The foliage on this orchid plant was just beautiful.

We really wanted to take this lovely blue pot full of mixed
orchids home with us!

Whew!  Did you manage to make it all the way through?  I have decided that orchids must be so photogenic that even my mediocre photography skills can't seem to ruin them!  Normally I would try to winnow out all but the best examples, but I just couldn't seem to do that with these fabulous flowers.

Lest you think the State Botanical Garden of Georgia only has orchids, I did manage to take just a few photos of their many other plants:

I love bromeliads almost as much as I love orchids.

My husband was very impressed with this huge staghorn fern.

This banana tree, complete with fruits, was also huge.  It is planted
on the basement level and reaches all the way to the top of the
conservatory ceiling, which we are guessing is close to 50 feet high!

The conservatory starts at ground level and winds down to a
basement floor, where this lush oasis complete with pond is located.

It is still a bit early for the outside gardens, but even in late winter we found some inspiring vegetation:

I really want this 'Burgundy Glow' Bugleweed for our garden!  It
truly does glow, even on the overcast day when we were at the Garden.
Online descriptions for this plant indicate that the leaf color is a more
variable tricolor, but at the Garden at this time of year it was a
uniform carpet of burgundy.

My husband liked the pretty shape and vibrant colors of the
'Ballerina" Grayleaf Cranesbill leaves in winter.

Along the pathway to the visitor center, this lovely trillium
has a bud almost ready to bloom.

Orchid Madness is an annual fundraiser for the Horticulture department, with special events each week in February.  These events include a reception, two orchid care classes, and a finale on the 28th called Orchid Sunday, which celebrates the vanilla orchid.  Although we did not participate this year, I would love to take the orchid repotting class next year, and if possible we will stop by for Orchid Sunday next week, although we also plan the visit the Atlanta Botanical Garden for their Orchid Daze gala, also called Vanilla Sunday, on the same day.  I guess you can never see too many orchids in the month of February!