Paint Orchids in Sri Lanka

Here’s a vacation idea for those who love orchids and would like to learn to paint. Paint Sri Lanka.com has orchid tours such as the “Orchids and Tropical Flowers” tours coming up in April.  The tours include six nights in a luxurious beach villa, drawing and painting orchids with an experienced tutor and botanical illustrator.

Their website explains, “Sri Lanka is orchid heaven! More than 188 orchid species grow here, with a stunning 55 that are unique to the island and provide the source of inspiration for this course. Under encouraging step-by-step guidance you will find yourself drawing and painting these exquisite flowering plants with increasing confidence and skill. Orchids and tropical Flowers are an endless source of inspiration with their patterns, shapes and vibrant colors.

“In the middle of the week we take a break for a day’s excursion to the famous Sinharaja Rainforest Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where you may have the rare privilege of seeing in the wild some of the orchids you are painting.”

Some of the wild orchids found in the deep shade and humidity of the forest floor at the Sinharaja Rainforest Reserve include Anoectochilus setaceous (the jewel orchid), Rynchostylis retusa (foxtail orchid) and the rare Acanthepippium bicolour (pitcher orchid).

Orchid cultivation in Sri Lanka became popular during colonial times, and certain species are still valued for their medicinal properties and are used in Ayurvedic treatments.

Other species like Vanda tessellata (grey orchid), Phalaenopsis, Arachnanthe, Calanthe, Dendrobium, Coelogyne, Stanhopea, Oncidium can also be admired at the Peradeniya Botanic Gardens in Kandy and also at the Hakgala Botanic Garden in Nuwara Eliya, home to the largest orchid in the world, ‘Grammatophyllum speciosum’, whose racemes can grow to a length of 3m. These gardens form part of the itinerary for the optional ‘extra week’ tours arranged by Paint Sri Lanka.

Because April is already here, there’s another planned for December 2010 .