Open days at French Senate greenhouses

[reivilos]

Saturday and Sunday were Open days in France. I visited Senate's Greenhouses, and also L'Elysée (the President's home) which apparently has a little greenhouse !

The greenhouse gardeners have been doing paph. crosses for the past 150 years, so they've got a few things inside, especially on the primary hybrids side.
There were a few things in bloom, but during this event you cannot approach the plants, furtunately.

Paph. Celler Freude was amazing. The bellatulum is dubious at best.

 

[NYEric]

Wow! I'll take that "bellatulum", and the Disa also!!!

 

[Ozpaph]

what a lovely day - very good photos; thank-you.

 

[Spaph]

Great pics, interesting crosses! Thanks for posting.

 

[SlipperFan]

That is quite a nice little greenhouse.

 

[SlipperKing]

Yeah, I'd have to agree about the bell. Something a bit off on that flower.

That aside, thanks for the peek into the french culture!

 

[lepetitmartien]

The Serres du Sénat is the oldest public orchid collection in France, 150 years old. They are now entitled national conservatory for orchids though they main work beside furnishing flowers to the Senate is to conserve, propagate and recreate some lines of paphs hybrids they own for ages. I remember the paph collection is about 100 years old.

I may be visiting it in october or later, I'll see about the bellatulum.

 

[Brabantia]

Always a great pleasure to see the old hybrids conserved in the Senat greenhouses. It would seem that now they cultivate plants in bark but I remember me having seen a couple of years ago (in a TV broadcast Fr5 "La fièvre des orchidées") Mr Berteaux watering the plants cultivated in sphagnum. You can see a nice video Here on these famous greenhouses.

 

[lepetitmartien]

One important point to know is that like the MNHN and the Serres d'Auteuil, the culture at the Senate is chemicals free.

That documentary was great, yes, and not only because of the Senate orchids, there was insights of the Guerlain collection (the perfumer), and of production in Thaïland and a conservatory of Vanda and a private collection in South China.