KFBG’s Hong Kong Orchid Conservation Story Wins Gold and Royal Acclaim at Prestigious Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show

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Dr Stephan Gale and Candy Ip Tsz Yu of KFBG with the coveted Floral Gold Medal at the UK’s Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show

An exhibition displaying Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden’s (KFBG) orchid conservation work has been awarded a Floral Gold Medal at the prestigious 2025 Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show in London. The vibrant exhibit, which received a visit from Queen Camilla herself, showcased the beauty and fragility of the region’s native orchids to a global audience, and highlighted its importance for biodiversity.

The show, organised by the UK’s RHS and with a history stretching back more than 100 years, ran from 20-25 May 2025. KFBG was honoured to be invited by Orchid Conservation Chelsea to be one of four displays, alongside those from Singapore, Hawaii and Australia. Under the theme ‘From Hong Kong to Australia — The Orchids of Asia & the Pacific’, the collaboration aimed to tell the story of how science and horticulture have joined forces to save species from extinction.

The KFBG booth at the Chelsea Flower Show, a naturalistic diorama recreating a Hong Kong mountain stream, the natural habitat for many native orchids

The KFBG booth was transformed into a boulder-strewn mountain stream typical of Hong Kong’s ravines, replete with the mossy rocks, shaded understorey and evergreen canopy that our native orchids call home. Within this lush, naturalistic diorama, an abundance of orchids native to Hong Kong and South China were interspersed. Among them were plants propagated from seed every year at KFBG’s micropropagation laboratory and recently donated to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, including Ruy’s Ania (Ania ruybarrettoi), the Long-eared Dog Orchid (Bulbophyllum bicolor), and the Chinese Rattlesnake Orchid (Pholidota chinensis).

A star of the show: The Long-eared Dog Orchid (Bulbophyllum bicolor). The exhibit highlighted KFBG’s decade-long “race to protect” this rare native species, which faces reproductive failure in the wild. The display tells the story of how our conservation science, from micropropagation to assisted pollination, is creating new generations to restore wild populations and safeguard the orchid from extinction

This achievement is built on a legacy of pioneering work that began at KFBG in the 1970s. Lifelong Hong Kong plantswoman Gloria D’Almada Barretto and Professor Shiu-ying Hu of the Chinese University of Hong Kong documented many new orchid species across the territory’s rugged terrain. Over the ensuing decades, as awareness grew of the vulnerability of Hong Kong’s landscape and the threat of illegal collection, a new generation of KFBG staff took up the mantle. The mission evolved from documentation to active conservation, researching orchid ecology and developing methods to propagate and reintroduce them into the wild. Today, specialist ecologists and horticulturalists at KFBG propagate scores of threatened local orchid species from seed, making use of a specially designed orchid micropropagation laboratory, a culture room and three orchid nurseries.

The stars of our conservation story: (from left) Ruy’s Ania (Ania ruybarrettoi), the Long-eared Dog Orchid (Bulbophyllum bicolor), and the Chinese Rattlesnake Orchid (Pholidota chinensis)

With over 31,000 species, orchids are one of the largest families of flowering plants. Their often highly specific habitat requirements make them very sensitive to changes in their environment, and so they are often referred to as indicators of ecosystem health. One notable example of KFBG’s conservation work was a project to research and reintroduce the highly threatened Beautiful Moth Orchid (Phalaenopsis pulcherrima) back into a nature reserve on Hainan Island. In 2019, just two years after reintroduction, the new seedlings were not only flowering but had formed their own seed capsules, a crucial sign of successful reproduction.

Meet one of our Chelsea champions: Candy Ip Tsz Yu, KFBG’s Orchid Nursery Foreman, who was instrumental in building our Gold Medal-winning orchid display in London

Candy Ip Tsz Yu, KFBG’s Orchid Nursery Foreman who travelled to the UK to help create the display, said of her involvement, “It’s really exciting to participate in the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show — both for me as an orchid grower and for these remarkable plants that were grown from seed in our lab!”.

Dr Stephan Gale, Head of Flora Conservation, who brought the vital story of Hong Kong’s orchid conservation on the world stage at RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Head of Flora Conservation Department Dr Stephan Gale, who was also in London to communicate the importance of KFBG’s conservation science, added, “This is a unique opportunity to shout about KFBG’s orchid conservation work, so sorely needed in Hong Kong and across seasonal tropical Asia. Sadly, too many of the region’s native orchids continue to face a high risk of extinction. By teaming up with other world-renowned institutes that work on orchid conservation, we can share, learn and amplify the message to cherish, protect and restore.”

The Floral Gold Medal is a prestigious recognition that validates the hard work of our colleagues. It serves as a powerful international endorsement, broadcasting the message loud and clear to the judges, the RHS, and the 160,000 visitors that Hong Kong’s native orchids need to be protected and restored.