Costa Rica stars at prestigious London orchid event

The prestigious Kew Royal Botanic Garden, in southwest London, was filled with tropical colors on Thursday in honor of the biodiversity of Costa Rica, the guest country of its annual orchid festival.

More than 5,000 orchids, some native to the Central American country – known for its efforts to conserve the environment – will be seen in the exhibition, which opens on Saturday.

Among the plants exhibited is what is considered the Costa Rican national flower, the Guarianthe skinneri, currently an endangered species.

The so-called purple guaria or Candelaria flower, with pink to purple petals, grows on the branches and trunks of trees in humid forests or on granite cliffs at a certain altitude.

The exhibition, which can be visited for a month, has been installed in a greenhouse in tropical conditions.

Among the plants, animal sculptures have also been placed, made with natural materials, to highlight the rich fauna of the Central American country.

“We have tried to bring as much color as possible to transport people to this kind of nice world of Costa Rica,” gardener Henck Roling, a volunteer at Kew, told AFP.

This Dutchman, explains that the exhibition is the result of two years of preparation after the exhibition was canceled in 2021 due to the pandemic.