Orchids At Utopia
Utopia boasts an extensive collection of orchids, most of them in bloom, growing all over the rainforest, the perfect growing environment for growing orchids. Utopia's tropical gardens are quite similar to the real thing! Visitors to the park can view and experience first-hand the magical world of orchids growing in every corner. Utopia's tropical gardens have over 17,000 thousand orchids!
What are orchids?
Orchids belong to the most varied family of plants known to man. There are over 880 types, 28,000 species and more than 300,000 registered orchid growers. Orchids belong to a plant group which undergo genetic changes at a faster pace than other plants, and they have the largest number of species found over the past thousands of years.
Orchids are also one of the most adaptive plant groups on earth. Tor example, there are Australian orchids which live underground as well as other orchids which thrive in tropical jungles growing on the top branches of tress as epiphytes. Tundra, rainforests, mountains, weedy plains, deserts and swamps all hold various types of orchids.
Orchid dispersal around the world is as follows:
Eurasia: 40-60 types
North America: 20-30 types
Tropical America: 300-350 types
Tropical Africa: 125-150 types
Tropical Asia: 250-300 types
Oceania: 50-70 categories
Orchids create seed pods with over hundreds of thousands of seeds which disperse in the wind. Orchid seeds must have communal-symbiotic relations with a specific mushroom in order to survive the first year of their lives. The mushroom retains water and minerals for itself and for the seeds, and the seeds share with it the sugars gained from photosynthesis. Only one or two seeds eventually succeed in sprouting and surviving inside crevices or concaves which are moist and have the mushroom growing inside them. Even if such places are found, the survival rates in nature are low.
Wholesale Gifts and Orchids
At Utopia Park you will find a wide selection of reasonably priced gift baskets, orchids and plants. There is a gift basket or plant for every occasion: birthdays, anniversaries or just to say "thank you"-- there is something for everyone!!