Fuqua Orchid Center

The orchid family is the largest and most diverse in the plant world, and its more than 25,000 species account for about 8 percent of all flowering plant species. The Fuqua Orchid Center’s collection showcases this tremendous diversity, with more than 200 genera and 2,000 species as well as a variety of other tropical plants such as bromeliads, carnivorous Nepenthes and Heliamphora, and even blueberries.

The Center’s two display houses, which opened in 2002, contain a dazzling array of orchid species of all colors, sizes, scents and shapes. Featured collections include orchids of Madagascar, tropical Asian slipper orchids, Euglossine bee-pollinated orchids, high elevation genera and moth orchids.

In addition to the display houses, the Fuqua Orchid Center also contains a conservation greenhouse and laboratories where horticulturists and scientists work. Although these spaces are not open to the public, windows offer a peek at the conservation science being done here.

During Garden Lights, Holiday Nights, parts of the Fuqua Orchid Center are transformed by festive displays. The building takes center stage every spring as the home to the Garden’s annual Orchid Daze exhibition.