Today is the last day of the Orchids on the Riverbanks Festival at Riverbanks Zoo and Garden. The festival features hundreds of orchids in bloom and offers a chance to learn some tips from orchid experts. Here are a few things you might not know about orchids:• Orchids aren’t just a tropical plant. They grow in every climate, from the Arctic Circle to the jungle. They grow on every continent except Antarctica.
• Orchids have the tiniest seeds in the world, but each seedpod can contain up to three million seeds.
• It takes five to seven years of cultivation before an orchid produces its first flowers. And then some only bloom for a few hours. Others can bloom up to six months.
• Orchids bloom in every color but black.
• Some orchids grow as big as 44 feet high and 2,200 pounds. Kew Gardens in England recorded one orchid that lived for 100 years.
(Sources: Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden and Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden)
The Orchids on the Riverbanks festival, which is free with a paid admission to Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, is presented by the S.C. Orchid Society, Ikebana International Chapter 182 and Riverbanks Botanical Garden. Riverbanks Zoo and Garden is open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. today.