Orchid Fever Symposium: Propagating and Hybridizing Orchids from the Nineteenth Century to the Present

Saturday 16^th March, 2024

The Liverpool Botanic Garden Trust and LJMU Research Institute for Literature and Cultural History are pleased to announce a symposium focusing on the cultural and scientific history of orchid collections. Liverpool has an important place in the ‘Orchidelerium’ or orchid mania which swept Victorian Britain.  

 Our one-day event will be held on Saturday 16th March 2024 at Croxteth Hall, Liverpool and will feature keynote talks by orchid expert, author and lecturer, Philip Seaton (Secretary of the Orchid Specialist Group).  

We invite proposals for 20-minute papers which address the cultural and scientific significance of orchids. Papers from across academic disciplines are welcomed and may include topics such as: 

• The importance of orchids in the history of Liverpool; 

• The cultural representation of orchids in art, fiction, film and the media; 

• Nineteenth- and twentieth-century scientific discoveries pertaining to orchids; 

• Propagation and hybridizing of orchids; 

• The history of showing orchids in local and national horticultural shows;

• Engagements with aspects of garden history or culture that shed light on orchid fever.

Please send proposals and enquiries to Kate Walchester, Director of LJMU Research Institute for Literature and Cultural History by Wednesday 7^th February, 2024: K.A.Walchester@ljmu.ac.uk