SARASOTA COUNTY (WSNN) – Preparations are underway for Selby Gardens’ 45th-anniversary orchid show: “Women Breaking the Glasshouse Ceiling.”
The exhibit runs from October 10th, to November 29th. It’s focusing on females in Selby Gardens’ history, like the founder, Marie Selby, and icons like Bertha Palmer.
The anniversary also coincides with the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which granted women the right to vote.
The Tropical Conservatory will celebrate the suffrage movement and showcase orchids with symbolic colors: purple for loyalty, white for purity, and green for hope.
“If women didn’t have the right to vote, they wouldn’t be getting out to the field and having other forms of equality in the workplace,” Show curator, Jeannie Perales said. “And so we feel that it’s all really connected and we see this as an opportunity to have this beautiful floral celebration of the milestones that women have made over time.”
Orchids will take center stage at the exhibit, opening next Saturday. You can buy tickets ahead of time. There’s more information here.
Programs related to the exhibition will be virtual and include the following:
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
Noon to 1 p.m.
Keynote Botanical Briefing: The Orchid Show – Women Breaking the Glasshouse Ceiling
Wednesday, November 18, 2020
Noon to 1 p.m.
Historical Briefing: The Orchid Show – Bertha Palmer’s Love of Gardens with John McCarthy, Vice President for Historic Spanish Point
Wednesday, December 9, 2020
Noon to 1 p.m.
Botanical Briefing: Orchid Show: The Orchid Show – A Brief History of Botanical Art with Olivia Braida