Kew's Indian Orchid Festival Video

When Spring is only just beginning to appear to British gardens, Kew stages its colourful, annual Orchid Festival. The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew focused on Indian orchids and culture this year. 

The Princess of Wales Conservatory was a riot of colour during our Sunday afternoon visit. You can sample what we saw on the following video:

Photographers' Paradise
The conservatory was full of enthusiastic visitors - both young and old. I lost track of the number of different languages spoken around me as I wandered around the magnificent displays with my elder son. It seemed to be a photographers' paradise.  We saw amateurs snatching shots on their smartphones, as well as more advanced photographers with the best cameras and lenses available on the market. 

Kew's beautiful orchids provide plenty of photo opportunities

Education Role
Kew Gardens are not just brilliant at staging popular events like the annual Orchid Festival for the public. The Botanical Gardens also carry out valuable scientific research and have an important educational role. They teach schoolchildren about the natural world, as well as offering advanced training for expert botanists at the other end of the spectrum. It therefore came as no surprise that brightly-coloured signposts informed visitors about orchids and Indian culture.

One of Kew's brightly- coloured and informative signs

Rich Diversity
The above sign informed visitors about the rich diversity of Indian orchids. It explained that orchids are often divided into 3 main groups based on their habitat:

• terrestrial orchids grown in the ground and have underground roots
• lithophytic orchids grow on rocks
• epiphytic orchids grow attached to trees

An elderly visitor in the medicinal plant section

Deforestation Risk
Indian orchids are extremely vulnerable to deforestation as more than half of Indian orchid species grow on trees. Kew's scientists are currently working on a checklist of Indian orchids as part of the Flora of India project in cooperation with Indian botanists.

Medicinal Plants
Another sign informed visitors about medicinal plants. Up to 80% of Indians use some form of traditional medicine.  Some 79 species of orchid are used in this way.

Cultural Explanations
I was somewhat baffled when I saw a small-leaved, green plant apparently sitting on the best spot amid the elaborate, colourful displays. The puzzling choice only made sense once I spotted Kew's informative sign. 

Holy Basil or Tulsi is sacred plant to India's Hindus

Holy basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum) is a sacred plant to Hindus. They call it Tulsi, meaning 'the incomparable one'. The leaves are an essential part in the worship of Vishnu. Signs also highlighted the importance of other plants in Hinduism and Sikhism. 80% of the Indian population is Hindu. Flowers have deep meanings and are used to celebrate, worship and mourn. 

Flowers are not used in worship to the same extent in Sikhism. Kew's sign carries a powerful and relevant message in this age of climate change:

Life depends on nature, and an awareness of the sacred relationship between humans and the environment is necessary for the health of the planet and human survival.

It's a neat summary for the importance of Kew's plant conservation work. All the world's people share a deep connection to, and dependence on Nature.

Karen at Kew's Orchid Festival 2017

Karen Andrews is a freelance digital marketer, freelance French>English translator/transcreator, content writer and editor. She has a strong background in global marketing.

Email Karen for further information via karenanglicityen@gmail.com in French, German or English.

A Rosy Review

Women in my Rose Garden by Ann Chapman

Broken backs and fingernails cannot normally keep gardeners in their armchairs. Some cold and dark winter days could force even that great gardener, Vita Sackville-West indoors. On just such a day, my green fingers turned the pages of Women in my Rose Garden by New Zealand author, Ann Chapman. French heroines abound. A local lady thinks of England. Even a family ancestor appears within its pages.

Curiosity got the better of Ann Chapman as she tended to her roses. That curiosity lasted 20 years as she researched the women behind their names. This gardener's labour of love bears the subtitle The History, Romance and Adventure of Old Roses. Women in my Rose Garden is a marvellous combination of historical biographies, horticultural detail and stunning photography. The book selects just 34 out of the 100 women researched.

History often neglects women. Roses bear their names in remembrance instead. Many of these "roses" influenced their times. They stand out for their bravery, intelligence or compassion. They were the pawns of their menfolk. Many married very young. They endured frequent pregnancies and the heartbreak of losing many of their children. You appreciate modern medicine and family planning after reading some of these biographies.

I confess that as a Francophile, I am biased... but the best biographies are French. Some figures are very familiar; others are relatively unknown. Fascinating details bring the  biography of each woman to life. An ancestral link (or family rumour) makes my favourite the Victorian heroine, Grace Darling.

The print production is worthy of a large coffee table book. There are portraits or photographs of the women in each biography.  The full colour photographs by Paul Starosta are outstanding.

One of Paul Starosta's photos: a rose named after Indian Mughal empress

, Nur Mahal.

Each rose also has a section devoted to horticultural information on parentage and breeders. At times, I felt this information was somewhat inconsistent in length. It needed more judicious editing and/or a larger type size.

I was disappointed that the publishers had taken a shortcut in final checking procedures. Women in my Rose Garden is perfect for revisiting and dipping into. However, the page numbers on the contents page do not always match up to the actual biographies. I hope that mine is just a rogue copy.

If Ann Chapman decides to write a follow-up using her remaining research, she will have an avid reader here. This is a beautiful and fascinating book. With so much French history, it deserves a quality French translation and print production.

Karen Andrews runs Anglicity Ltd.
She is an entrepreneurial French to 
English translator, versatile editor
and content writer. She writes on
technical and marketing subjects.
She is interested in the 
environment, as well as being 
a keen gardener and rose-lover.

Contact: karen@anglicity.com 
for further information.