![]() ![]() Later, I revisited the orchid room and found that, as evening fell, the room smelled ambiguously musky and peppery, a vague myriad of the fading fragrance of day-scented orchids mixed with the amplifying fragrance of night-scented orchids. “Sweet, ambrosial nectar” and “lemon soda pop” were just two of the impressions of day-scented orchids that I wrote down in my notebook. This explains why the orchids I smelled at Longwood Gardens during the daytime exhibited a myriad of sweet, fruity scents. Generally, orchids that feature especially strong, diffusive floral odors are pollinated by moths and are scented at night, while orchids that feature sweet or fruity scents are pollinated by bees and are day-scented. Just as orchids have adapted how they smell to attract a specific pollinator, orchids also have adapted when they release their fragrance for the same purpose: orchids that attract pollinators that are active at night release their scent during the night, and orchids that attract pollinators that are active during the day release their scent in the day. On a recent trip I made to Longwood Gardens, I had the pleasure of experiencing their gorgeous orchids at both day and night, which allowed me to appreciate the fragrances of all of the orchids in their rotating collection. The multitude of topiaries and sculptures constructed out of thousands of phalaenopsis orchid plants offers a bright splash of color at one of the bleaker points of the year. Longwood Gardens, a botanical garden in Pennsylvania, holds their annual Orchid Extravaganza from mid January to early March in their extensive conservatory. At my favorite orchid shop, I love coming in from the icy chill of December to the tropical warmth of a glasshouse filled with rows upon rows of flamboyantly scented and colored blossoms. Even before you catch a first glimpse of the showy jewel-toned blossoms, the sweet, musky perfume of hundreds of flowering orchids gathered together is potent and unforgettable. Stepping into a greenhouse filled with orchids, the first thing that hits you is the scent. Fortunately for human noses, though, most cultivated orchids smell pleasant, with odors that span the range of fruity, floral, and all other notes in between. ![]() This explains why an orchid species like Orphrys exaltata, which is pollinated by male bees, carries a sweet scent that mimics female bee pheromones, and why an orchid species like Bulbophyllum graveolens, which is pollinated by carrion flies, smells like rotting meat. Orchids are highly adapted to their environments, which is reflected in the fact that most species of orchids have co-adapted with their pollinators to exhibit flowers that are shaped, colored, and scented to attract a specific species of insect or bird. Orchids are a particularly diverse class of plants, found on every continent, except Antarctica, growing in rainforests, deserts, and marshes, on mountains, valleys, and plains, and taking root in just about every type of climate imaginable. In reality, though, orchids possess far too wide a range of scents to be classified using any of these descriptions. ![]() What does an orchid really smell like? In the world of perfumery, the answer is fairly limited-orchid is usually portrayed using a note that is spicy, exotic, and floral like Tom Ford Black Orchid or Jo Malone Dark Amber & Ginger Lily, often accented by woodsy, powdery, or vanillic nuances. Now in the middle of grey winter days, an invitation to contemplate scented orchids seems particularly welcome. Andy wrote this article a couple of years ago after his visit to Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, and I kept looking for a chance to share it with you. ![]()
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