There are orchids in various locations at the George Eastman House. The first orchid I came across was this beauty in the dining room. I love the little hairs from the leaves:
The next orchid I came across was in the hallway along the conservatory.
It is in front a mirror, so I had to play with the camera and the mirror - a view into the mirror showing the conservatory.
Another beautiful orchid in the same hallway:
And right next to it, this gorgeous beauty, here an up close and personal shot of it:
And lastly, a beautiful orchid in the billiard room:
This is interesting because I just created a three panel display for OHA for their booth at Central New York Blooms, and researched David Campbell, who was first a landscape architect with training in Scotland, and then Syracuse’s Superintendent of Parks (1902-1922). As the Superintendent he created several parks in Syracuse, the main one being Thornden Park, which used to be the home of Major Alexander Davis. When it was Major Davis’ home, David Campbell was hired as the landscape architect, and, the main thing David Campbell featured was orchids.
Sonnenberg Gardens has lots of orchids around, too. It must be a Victorian thing to feature orchids around your home, if you were wealthy, that is!
My friend Rosa told me that orchids grow in the wild like weeds in Brazil. Can you imagine?
More on the Eastman House tomorrow! I can’t believe how much more there is to share - and I didn’t capture everything I saw in photos.
February 27, 2007 at 12:47 pm
Pam, just stunning. I’ve never had luck with orchids but I don’t have luck with any indoor plan. These are gorgeous and honestly, I can’t pick a favorite. The fourth one got my attention, though! Seeing them close-up makes me want to get my watercolors out…
Keep sending the COLOR!
February 27, 2007 at 2:29 pm
OMG!! Those orchids are drop-dead gorgeous!!! Like pansies, orchids always make me think of faces!
MORE-MORE!!
February 27, 2007 at 3:21 pm
Fantastic!!
My father and my mother-in-law grew beautiful orchids… I have one in the living room that hasn’t yet bloomed.
These are breathtaking!
February 27, 2007 at 5:23 pm
I liked the one in the billiard room the best. Yes, I think you are right about the Victorians and orchids, I have read that before. Have you ever tried to grow one?
February 27, 2007 at 6:55 pm
What a spectacular series of posts on the Eastman House. Wow! The orchids, the bulbs, the cameras and optical machines- wonderful. I love that part of New York- my mother was born and raised in Schnenectady so we made frequent childhood visits to that area along the Hudson. We were all happy when my sister took a position at Cornell so we could again visit. I love Storm King in the spring. Thank you for visiting and for stirring up all these nice memories with the eye candy over here.
I’m in Florida right now and discovering the joys of hanging orchids on pieces of bark to thrive and bloom outside. I’ll put up a couple pictures in the next day or two.
February 27, 2007 at 9:53 pm
Mary - Thanks - I almost killed my ephorbia plant yesterday! I looked over and the leaves were drooping way down. Oops past time for a drinky-poo. I took it to the sink and let it soak up all it needed. So no, I’m not an indoor plant person!
Ohhh, get out the watercolors Mary - that would be fun to see!
Lynne - Thanks - they are great to see in person. And they do look like faces - they’re so interesting! I’ll send more as I find more. I’ll be on the search every weekend!
Endment - Thank you! Please photograph your orchid for us when it blooms - they’re all so beautiful, aren’t they?
Sandy - I do, too, and unfortunately that’s the one that was far away beyond the ropes so I couldn’t get close to it. No, I’ve never tried growing an orchid. I just enjoy looking at them at places like this.
Vicki - I’m glad you’re enjoying the Eastman House posts! I love the Hudson area of NYS also, and Ithaca is another favorite of mine, too. I look forward to seeing your orchid photos!
February 28, 2007 at 6:53 am
WOW…. how very exquisite, those orchids!! I could just stare at them all day long. The depth of color and design are all so interesting. Can you even imagine finding them in the wild like this? I would think I’d died and gone to heaven or something to see a forest floor full of these.
February 28, 2007 at 11:17 am
Me too Jayne! I can’t imagine seeing them in the wild. I would love to though - imagine all of the photos one could take seeing them wild!