The spectacular and vibrant orchids of Costa Rica are to be the centrepiece of a new festival beginning on Saturday at Kew Gardens.

The Royal Botanical Gardens suggests a visit to experience its colourful displays will offer a far better option to celebrate Valentine's Day than the normal red roses.

The Kew Gardens' 2022 Orchid Festival runs from Saturday through to March 6 and will incorporate vibrant displays and accompanying soundscapes inspired by the flora and fauna of Central America

The event will involve a route around the Princess of Wales Conservatory, which is designed to recreate the varied and verdant landscape of Costa Rica - from the tropical dry forest of the north Pacific to the rainforests of the southern coastline.

Throughout the journey around the glasshouse, visitors will encounter an assortment of native animals replicated across a series of stunning horticultural displays.

Monkeys, sea turtles, toads and hummingbirds - all intricately hand-crafted from plants - will burst into colourful life for the duration of the festival.

The central display in the glasshouse pond, a highlight of the festival, will be filled with brilliant vibrant orchids and bromeliads.

Costa Rica is home to 5% of the world's biodiversity, despite covering just 0.03per cent of the planet. Around a quarter of its land part of a protected forest or reserve.

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has many collaborative scientific projects located in Costa Rica, which include constructing a 'family tree' for all of its orchid species to learn how to better protect them, and documenting plants in La Amistad Biosphere Reserve - one of the richest places on Earth for plant diversity.

Alberto Trico, Acting Supervisor of the Princess of Wales Conservatory at the Royal Botanic Gardens, said: "Every year we enjoy brightening up the gloomy winter months with creative, vibrant and beautiful displays for Orchids, and this time around feels all the more pertinent after last year's closure – the first ever in the 26-year run of the festival.

'Costa Rica is a major orchid habitat with so many interesting species, and has much to teach us about conservation as the world faces such huge threats from biodiversity loss.

'Visitors will be able to safely enjoy a coast-to-coast journey across this tropical paradise that we're aiming to recreate inside the Princess of Wales Conservatory, and learn a thing or two about its diversity and cultural wonders along the way.'