I’ve just come back from Kew Gardens where I'm privileged to be a visitor guide. I was taken behind the scenes in the Tropical Nursery to see the amazing Grammatophyllum speciosum otherwise known as the giant orchid. Kew is very excited about this plant as it is flowering for the first since it was collected from Malaysia in 1983. Although it still has some growing to do before it beats the giant orchid on display at Crystal Palace in the 1851 Exhibition, it’s pretty big already at five … [Read more...]