Chiang Mai – Orchid and Butterfly Farm

With its cool sub-tropical climate, Chiang Mai is quite ideal for the growing of orchids, and it is no wonder that orchid-growing is big business here. If you join some of the local tours, a visit to an orchid farm is sure to be on the itinerary. The buying and selling of orchids is a tightly regulated business. Usually you are not allowed to bring whole plants out of the country, and there are hefty fines for flouting the restrictions so do be careful should you decide to bring some home. They do sell seedlings in sealed flasks which are certified to be exported. These are much easier to carry, but whether or not they will survive and grow into beautiful flowers is hard to say.

Orchids are exotic tropical plants, and some of the species are notoriously difficult to breed from the wild. Orchid aficionados and collectors would search far and wide for that rare specie which nobody else has discovered and try to breed it successfully. The amount of fanaticism and intrigue involved is quite fascinating coming from a fragile little blossom. It is really a world unto its own. For an interesting account read Eric Hanson’s Orchid Fever. For me I’m just happy to enjoy viewing the beautiful flowers and leave the “lunacy” to others.

Beautiful orchids. You can see why some people obsess over them.