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Orchids Through the Ages: Where History Meets Botany

March 19: Empresses and Orchids Explore the connection between two 19th-century empresses and their love of orchids, from Empress Cixi of China to Empress Eugenie of France. March 20: Orchids and the Botany of Freedom Discover the story of Edmund Albius, an enslaved boy who developed the technique for pollinating vanilla orchids, and Charles Darwin’s groundbreaking research on orchids and its connection to the abolition of slavery.

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PROGRAM: Orchids Through the Ages: Where History Meets Botany
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Friday March 19th 

3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Member: $15

Non-Member: $25

Instructor: Erica Hannickel

Empresses and Orchids

“Empresses and Orchids” explores the fascinating connection between two 19th-century empresses and their love of orchids. Empress Cixi of China used orchids in her rise to power, while Empress Eugenie of France embraced them as symbols of fashion and royal status. The talk highlights these powerful women, their political connection, and little-known stories from orchid history.

Erica Hannickel, PhD, is a master gardener, nonfiction author, and professor emeritus of environmental history. An orchid enthusiast for more than 20 years, she is the author of Orchid Muse: A History of Obsession in Fifteen Flowers (W.W. Norton & Company, 2022), which explores fascinating and little-known stories from orchid history.

Saturday, March 20th

3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Member: $15

Non-Member: $25

Instructor: Erica Hannickel

Orchids and the Botany of Freedom

"Orchids and the Botany of Freedom" showcases Edmund Albius (1829-1880), an enslaved boy who first pollinated the vanilla orchid off the coast of Madagascar, and Charles Darwin’s second book, his “little book on orchids.” As a follow-up to Origin of Species, the orchid book scientifically investigated orchids in new ways but surprisingly also advocated for the end to slavery in America and around the world.