HARBINGERS OF SPRING: ORCHIDS, ROBINS AND FLIP FLOPS

One of the harbingers of spring is the orchid show at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. Thursday Sybil and I made our annual visit. We were not disappointed.

Our first view of the orchids was this one in the entry to the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. Here were orchids en masse. Like the overture to an opera, this was the introduction, a foretaste of what was to come.

The next orchids, in the Palms and Rain Forest Galleries, were “more overture,” this about mood. The orchids were clustered together, framed—with lots of green all around.

The “stage action and the drama” hit us in the Seasonal Exhibition Galleries. This was the part of the show that celebrates Singapore, one of the great orchid centers of the world. A two-storied, Southeast Asian type pagoda covered with orchids was the first thing to greet our eyes. This architectural feature was followed with planting arches, reminiscent of many found in formal gardens in Singapore. These were covered with an abundance of orchids in a riot of color. In terms of impact, this was glorious—a knockout, and the end of the plot.

I saw my first robins of the season at the botanical garden Thursday. Today, Sunday, I saw my first flip flops on the streets of Manhattan. Orchids, robins, flip flops—all reinforce a change we can feel in the air. That first spring day is something we all anticipate.