Plants and Us Greenhouse and Orchid Greenhouse, Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (嘉道理農場暨植物園 植物與我溫室、蘭花溫室)

The Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden grew out of the Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Association, founded in 1951 by the Kadoorie brothers to help migrants make a living from the land. An experimental and extension farm was set up in 1956 on the present site at Pak Ngau Shek. On 20 January 1995 the Legislative Council of Hong Kong passed an ordinance making it a public corporation, with a focus on conservation, organic agriculture, education and sustainable living.

Within that framework, the farm's 2010 annual report announces two new education spaces: the Plants and Us Greenhouse and the Fragrant Garden, opened in April and June 2010. The greenhouse, in the Lower Farm, was meant to let people engage with plants through sight, sound, smell, taste and touch, and to join a public experiment: giving love and gratitude to one particular plant, which by then was about twice the size of two control plants left without special attention.

The same year, the Orchid Greenhouse underwent major renovation, together with Orchid Haven, the part of the valley devoted to orchids, whose walled garden was renamed the Gloria Barretto Orchid Sanctuary in 2011 after a local plantswoman who devoted her life to orchid conservation. Today both greenhouses appear among the plant-and-garden attractions on the farm's official page, and the weekend guided tour ends at the Plants and Us Greenhouse, in the spelling of that page.

The Plants and Us Greenhouse is a volume with a grey metal frame and glazed walls, with opening vents high up for ventilation. Its roof framing is left visible and covered with black shade netting that softens the light. Inside, a path tiled in terracotta red curves between beds edged with rough stone walls, beneath a timber pergola. The 2010 annual report and the official page both stress the wooden signage designed for the space.

The Orchid Greenhouse, which the official page calls compact, follows the same principle: glazed walls in metal frames, shading at roof level, display shelves along the walls, and stone-edged beds where palms stand beside epiphytic plants mounted on logs. The two pages say only that the greenhouses are on the farm, without stating where the Orchid Greenhouse stands.

In the Plants and Us Greenhouse, the official page invites visitors to reflect on the vital bond between people and plants: the absorption of carbon dioxide and release of oxygen, the flavours that flowers, fruits and leaves bring to food, and the materials plants supply, from paper and medicines to building materials and fuel. The 2010 report photographs a dracaena that draws special attention from visitors.

The Orchid Greenhouse is described as a microcosm of tropical orchid diversity: dioramas and potted displays, orchids flowering from floor to ceiling all year round, and panels on basic biology, ecology and the risk of extinction. The 2010 annual report also mentions the gift of an orchid collection, mounted on logs and wooden slabs for display, and announces that the renovated areas, the Orchid Greenhouse and Orchid Haven, would show orchids native to Hong Kong and south-east China.

The greenhouses are visited with the farm's admission ticket, available at the Reception or the vehicle entrance on Lam Kam Road. The Plants and Us Greenhouse stands in the Lower Farm, and the weekend guided tour, about 1 hour 15 minutes, ends there after the plaza, the Piers Jacobs Wildlife Sanctuary, a native mammal display and the Eco-garden. Both greenhouses are compact, so a short stop is enough.

The visit can continue to the Eco-garden, a demonstration organic garden, and then up the valley to the Gloria Barretto Orchid Sanctuary, where the official page recommends spring and early autumn to see the orchids in bloom. The roads on the site are steep and winding; a shuttle bus serves seven stops on a 40-minute circuit.