The Botanical Garden and Arboretum of MENDELU received a gold medal for its exhibition and five silver and six bronze medals for its plants at the International Orchid Exhibition in Vienna. It succeeded in competition with thirty other exhibitors from Europe, Asia, and Central and South America. Visitors can admire the orchids in the greenhouses of the MENDELU Botanical Garden and Arboretum as part of the traditional Orchids and Butterflies exhibition, held from 13 to 29 March.
“The MENDELU Botanical Garden and Arboretum has been participating in this international event in Vienna since 2010 and is the only Czech botanical garden represented there. The medals we regularly receive, both for exhibits and for the exhibition itself, testify to the quality of our experts,” said Michal Pavlík, Director of the MENDELU Botanical Garden and Arboretum.
In the past, the architectural and artistic concept of the exhibitions was created by Ivar Otruba. Each year he designed a different, inventive, and in many ways original installation. “Together with other projects for the Brno Botanical Garden and Arboretum, these exhibition designs represented a distinctive aspect of his landscape practice: he worked at the intersection of architecture and fine art, always grounding his work in a deep understanding of both the living and non-living world of nature and plants,” Pavlík described. Since the 2024 exhibition, the role has been taken over by the duo of Barbora Ševčíková and Anna Magni from the Institute of Garden and Landscape Architecture. The floral arrangements are created by a team from the Botanical Garden and Arboretum under the leadership of orchid collection curator Jarmila Matoušková, and in subsequent years Anna Buchtová.
The silver and bronze medals awarded for plants are also a significant achievement. “Plant awards are influenced, among other factors, by the intensity of sunlight during the winter period and the number of plants in bloom at the time of the exhibition,” Pavlík explained.
The International Orchid Exhibition has been held regularly every two years in Vienna’s Hirschstetten district since 1994, with the exception of the COVID period. It is organized by the Vienna Orchid Society (Wiener Orchideengesellschaft). The event takes place in two greenhouses covering a total area of approximately 2,400 m². Together with a similar event in Dresden, it is one of the most anticipated events for both orchid growers and the general public. This year, more than thirty exhibitors from Europe, Asia, and Central and South America participated. Each edition attracts over ten thousand visitors, with this year exceeding sixteen thousand.
Contact for further information:
Ing. Michal Pavlík
mpavlik@mendelu.cz
+420 545 223 606
Director of the MENDELU Botanical Garden and Arboretum
More information about the Orchids and Butterflies exhibition