Life in Bloom at Selby Gardens’ Annual Orchid Show

By Christine Isaac | Photos Courtesy of Selby Gardens | October 2024

Life: (n) an entity exhibiting growth, responsiveness, energy, and transformation. —Britannica.com

I recently spoke with Jennifer Rominiecki, President and CEO of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, about the upcoming iteration of the annual Selby Gardens Orchid Show and the forthcoming Patti Smith: Book of Days Artist-In-Residence installation. 

During that conversation, it became clear that our beloved botanical gardens truly embody the Britannica.com definition of life.

“The theme of this year’s Orchid Show is the color purple,” Rominiecki enthuses.  “Programming highlights will include the fall “Lunch in the Gardens” held on October 23^rd”. Additional programming includes an “Orchid Evening” on October 28, during which the Sarasota Opera will perform arias relating to the florid hue. 

Alluding to the chromatic origins of purple, Rominiecki continues, “We’ve created an immersive show that explores the full range of purple from red to blue.”  The multiple nuances of the orchid’s signature color (“Eggplant! Violet! Lavender!”) will be displayed on the grounds and in interactive mediations. In the Museum of Botany and the Arts viewers will find artworks and studies, including who and what purple attracts (“royalty, specific pollinators, cultural significances and more”). And yes, Selby’s vast conservatory will be bursting with multiples of the iconic epiphytes all in full bloom—a peerless purple experience that one imagines could teach Crayola, Pantone, and Sherwin-Williams a thing or two.

“Of course, orchids come in all colors,” she points out. “But purple is such a WOW! color. We’re encouraging everyone to wear purple when they visit.”

The Artist in Residence program will be at Selby Gardens’ Historic Spanish Point companion campus in Osprey. This campus features a 30-acre property on Little Sarasota Bay and a 5000-year-old archeological record. 

 The program, on view starting November 9, 2024, is Selby Gardens’ fifth collaboration with multiform artist and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Patti Smith—a curious connection for an institution focused on botany, conservationism, and historic preservation.

“We are a living museum, “ Rominiecki stated. “We have the world’s best collection of living orchids and remain committed to that mission. But we are always looking to expand our notions of what it means to be in nature. With its beauty and diversity, nature always evolves, constantly revealing surprising connections.” 

Patti Smith’s residency will revolve around her New York Times bestselling photography publication A Book of Days. Inspired by her popular Instagram account, the images are culled from her unique view of life on and off the road. 

The exhibition at Selby Gardens will feature large outdoor prints of Smith’s photographs, bringing them into a dialogue with nature—a perpetual source of her inspiration. The selected images will be enlarged and displayed on aluminum sheets, taking visitors on a metaphorical journey through time, space, and the natural environment of Selby’s Historic Spanish Point campus.  Smith’s residency will include a live performance on November 14 focusing on her photographic works. Additionally, her residency will cross-pollinate with the George Harrison: A Gardener’s Life exhibition, running February 9 – June 29 as An Evening with Patti Smith Dedicated to George Harrison, February 12 at Selby Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota campus.  

What does she hope visitors will take away from these events? 

“Everything Selby Gardens does revolves around building awareness for conservation and the natural world. All life on earth depends on plants, and they, in turn, depend on us. Seeing the work of significant artists through the lens of those artist’s connections to nature will hopefully allow visitors to expand their notions of what it means to live and be in nature and find surprising new connections.” 

“Selby Gardens is a single bead on a longer necklace,” She continues. “We’re strung together with the other fine botanical institutions worldwide. Each one of us has resources and a specific ecosystem to work with based on our geographic locations.” 

One would have difficulty arguing Rominiecki’s grow-where-you’re-planted perspective. In July of this year, Time magazine revealed the annual list of the World’s Greatest Places, which highlights 100 extraordinary destinations around the globe. Marie Selby Botanical Gardens was one of only eight places to visit in the United States that made the list; the only Florida location in its category and the only botanical garden included from around the world.  They had this to say about our homegrown Selby Gardens:

“. . .this thriving oasis of banyan trees and mangroves, (is) now set to become the world’s first net-positive-energy botanical complex thanks to the installation of a 57,000 square-foot solar array. (It exceeds the facility’s energy demands by more than 10%) . . an open-air structure draped with spectacular air plants that introduce the gardens’ many wonders, including a world-renowned collection of epiphytic orchids, bromeliads, gesneriads, and ferns.”

Time elaborates, noting Selby’s “green lung” facilities, including on-site combustion facilities, a roof-top produce garden tended to by military veterans and whose yields are served at its on-site restaurant, and its stormwater management system, which cleans millions of gallons of water before returning it to Sarasota Bay. 

This kind of recognition, notes Rominiecki, acknowledges Selby Gardens for its sustainability efforts and as an international innovator for botanical gardens, museums, cultural organizations, scientific institutions, and restaurants worldwide. Perhaps not as glamorous as a wall of amethyst-shaded vandas and phalaenopsis’, but every bit as WOW! worthy.

Rominiecki’s directives stem from a three-part master plan, some obvious (the forward-thinking and distinctive parking facility at Tamiami Trail and Orange Avenue) and some less so. While scientific inquiry will remain the heart of Selby Gardens’ mission, other vital goals include moving irreplaceable scientific resources to secure, hurricane-resilient structures, visitor experience enhancements (i.e., arrival by boat or ferry, interconnected pathways), bolstering infrastructure and expanded classroom facilities, school, and family experiences reinforcing the links between nature and the arts.

A notably symbiotic feature of the master plan is Selby’s efforts to connect local citizens with the jobs this project has created. Selby Gardens spearheaded a job training program where local citizens learned trades and earned credentials in high-demand fields such as plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and machining and partnerships forged with Willis Smith Construction, Gulf Coast Builders Exchange, and the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce’s CareerEdge Funders Collaborative. Contractors who hired these trainees had priority during the bidding process.

Throughout our conversation, however, Rominiecki makes clear that she is not one to get lost in the weeds. As she speaks, her serene and receptive demeanor inspires confidence.

“Plants provide 96 percent of the oxygen in our environment,” she states, letting the weight of that fact hang in the air between us for an extra moment before adding, “Just like the epiphytes and other plants in the world, Selby Gardens, and all living things, must continuously grow in response to its conditions.”  

The generous bequeathment from Sarasota resident and passionate gardener Marie Selby, “for the enjoyment of the general public,” has blossomed and evolved indeed. It seems that even Brittanica.com agrees. Further exploration of its definition of life reveals this: “Life might be better cast as a verb to reflect its essential status as a process.” 

The annual Orchid Show at Selby Gardens runs from October 5 through December 1, 2024. The Artist in Residence program with artist Patti Smith at Selby Gardens’ Historic Spanish Point campus in Osprey runs from November 9, 2024, through August 31, 2025. For more information, visit selby.org.