Orchids + Rocks = Art

I was interested to read about an art exhibit at the Penrith Regional Gallery in Sydney, Australia, which is displaying a show of orchids grafted onto sculpted sandstone.

The exhibit is open October 20 to December 2 and features artist Tony Lennon, who "grafts orchids onto shaped sandstone forms, paying homage to Gerald Lewers’ sculptures and the influence of the Chinese garden form Penjing on Margo Lewers’ garden."

Penjing, a precursor to bonsai, "is the Chinese art of creating a miniature landscape in a container."

The Gallery home page is currently featuring a picture of Dendrobium speciosum mounted on Sydney sandstone.

Rare orchid found in Grand Cayman

From Cayman Net News Online:

"Encyclia kingsii was believed to be endemic to Little Cayman [...] However, Carla Reid discovered Encyclia kingsii growing wild in an undisclosed location in Grand Cayman."

According to the National Trust for the Cayman Islands, there are 26 orchids native to the Cayman Islands, including the Banana orchid (Myrmecophila thomsoniana), which is the national flower.