Written By: Misty Minar, Botanical Curator
With the opening of Amazonia in 2008, Mesker Park Zoo & Botanical Garden added a warm, tropical rain forest filled with plants and animals for visitors to escape to during the cold winter months. Amazonia has delighted visitors young and old for nearly 16 years now. Since 2010, our annual Orchid Escape event has become quite popular, drawing several thousand visitors to Amazonia during the month of February and in to March for our 5 week long Orchid Escape show. The event starts out with the preview party fundraiser where guest get the first look at the orchid displays, enjoy South American cuisine along with art and dance demos set up throughout Amazonia. What a fun night!
Leading up to this exciting preview party and orchid show is many months of planning, ordering, and growing. With help from the Greater Evansville Orchid Society and our local Master Gardeners, Zoo staff begin preparing Amazonia and plants to set up one of the most unique flower demonstrations around. Orchids are brought in from Florida and Hawaii along with orchids within the zoo’s botanical collection. Each year, displays are thought out and designed to bring a different show each year for guests to enjoy while keeping some fun favorites that we just couldn’t leave out.
Orchid Escape 2023 brought hundreds of orchids including the showy Moth Orchid, or Phalaenopsis, with its moth-in-flight like appearance. While pretty common, even at the grocery store, an orchid show isn’t complete without this showy, colorful orchid. Oncidiums, or Dancing Lady orchids, are always a favorite. Once you see them, you understand where they get the nickname. Oncidium species are always a great addition to the show as the blooms consist of many flowers and come in a variety of colors which gives lots of options when designing the show for the year. Another favorite that made a comeback to the show last year is Lady Slipper, or Phragmipedium orchids. This unique and highly collected orchid are notable for their unusual, pouch-shaped flowers. New this year are the gorgeous purple Zygopetalums. While they have appeared in past shows but not recently, we are excited to see this species again this year. These are just a few of the variety of orchid species found at Orchid Escape each year. In addition to orchids, Orchid Escape includes other fun blooms and foliage that add color and variety to the show. Lemon button and bird nest ferns are always great companion foliage added to the orchid displays. A mix of assorted bromeliads and anthuriums add color and blooms to the show as well.
Each year, Orchid Escape brings a new experience to an already unique atmosphere in Amazonia. Sometimes we forget how fortunate we are to have our own piece of the Amazon Rainforest right here in Southern Indiana. The horticulture crew is challenged with the creative task each year to come up with new and unusual ways to display orchids during Orchid Escape. Some ideas seem crazy to start, but end up being some of the most fun once complete. While we have our trusty favorites that appear every year, it’s also fun to change things up and add new orchid species so that each year visitors enjoy a completely different experience than they have in the previous years. Orchid Escape 2024 will undoubtably not disappoint those who make their way out to enjoy it.
Tickets will be available for the special Opening Preview Party beginning in January.