Colombo, 24 May, (Asiantribune.com): Sri Lanka Tourism is sponsoring the Orchid Society of Great Britain (OSGB) stand at the Chelsea Flower Show held from 19 to 23 May 2009. This is the country’s first appearance at Chelsea.
Two Guard Stones, replicas of ones standing at the gateways to the ancient Buddhist sites in Sri Lanka, forms the centre-piece to the exhibit with flowering vanilla hybrid orchids, cultivated on plantations in Sri Lanka, cascading in profusion alongside other rare and beautiful hybrid orchids flown in for the Chelsea Flower Show.
Wanigathunga, Sanjika Perera of Sri Lanka Tourism, Sri Lankan High Commissioner, Nihal Jayasinghe, Sri Lankan High Commissioner’s wife, Mrs Jayasinghe, Queen Elizabeth II, President of the Orchid Society of Great Britain, Dr Henry Oakeley, and President of the Royal Horticultural Society, Giles Coode-Adams, at the Chelsea Flower Show.
Sri Lanka is home to over 170 species of orchids, 74 of them found nowhere else in the world. Some of the most precious orchids can be seen in the wild in the Sinharaja Rainforest and Horton Plains. The Royal Botanical Gardens, Paradeniya near Kandy is world famous for its Orchid House, where visitors can see more than 300 varieties of exquisite orchids, from the rare indigenous Foxtail and Vesak orchids, to many natural and hybrid species.
The OSGB encourages support for many conservation projects, such as the Tourism Earth Lung project set up by Sri Lanka, to make the country a carbon neutral visitor destination by 2018.
- Asian Tribune -
Comments
Post new comment