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Posted on Sunday, 11.22.09

AMERICAN ORCHID SOCIETY

Delray Beach's orchid garden is alive and well

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Vandas in bloom at the American Orchid Society garden.

MARJIE LAMBERT / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

IF YOU GO

The American Orchid Society Botanical Gardens are open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily at 16700 AOS Ln., Delray Beach.

Admission: $10 for adults, free for kids 12 and younger.

Information: 561-404-2000, www.aos.org.

BY CHRISTINE WINTER JUNEAU

Sun Sentinel

South Florida garden lovers may soon come to think of the American Orchid Society's Delray Beach campus as the Mark Twain of botanical gardens. The rumors of its death have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, it is alive and in bloom, right now.

Of course, the society itself started those rumors last spring with the announcement that it would be closing the gardens to the public as an economizing move in the face of reduced donations and memberships. But the late May deadline quietly came and went, and the gardens stayed open.

Because the summer months are not usually prime time for strolling outdoor gardens, many fans of the grounds may not have realized AOS never followed through with its much ballyhooed plan. But with fall here, the AOS Botanical Garden Committee has started reviving old events and planning new ones that will showcase this 3 ½-acre gem, raise much-needed funds and make South Florida aware that the gardens got a reprieve.

``We want to get everybody to come take a closer look at the gardens, and appreciate what a positive thing it is that they are still open,'' said Jackie Wood, chairman of the committee, which is largely responsible for the about-face.

Wood said the group immediately started a Save Our Garden Pledge Campaign to show the AOS board that the grounds, which feature not only orchids, but rare and tropical plants and trees as well, have local support. They pored over the budget and came up with a plan for a bare-bones operation that makes use of many volunteers.

The volunteers, under the supervision of a few professionals, are doing a good job. The gardens look well-tended, the greenhouse is open and even the gift shop, once down to almost no inventory, is in business.

Among the upcoming events are the annual orchid show and sale, Falling for Orchids, which runs through Sunday; two trunk shows that will feature selected vendors on Dec. 5 and 19; a repeat of the popular wine and jazz evenings in January; and a spring plant sale.

Other ideas include an orchid-arranging demonstration, an Orchid Express that will provide group bus trips to some of the far-flung orchid shows in South Florida, patio sales of cuttings from the plants on the grounds when they are trimmed and divided, and maybe even some children's programs.

``We really want to come up with as many new ideas as we can to stimulate more activity in and around the gardens,'' Wood said.

It looks like the AOS gardens, which came back from devastating damage after Hurricanes Frances, Jeanne and Wilma, have also weathered the recession. And South Florida has kept one of its beautiful spaces intact.

Christine Winter Juneau is a National Wildlife Federation habitat steward.

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