AboutOrchids

There’s a great article in the New York Sun about the NY Botanical Garden’s annual orchid show. It lasts for 6 weeks, Feb. 23rd to April 6, so those of you lucky enough to be in NYC, you have no excuse to miss it.

You’ll definitely find me at the San Francisco Orchid Society’s annual show, the Pacific Orchid Exposition, held at Fort Mason’s Festival Pavilion. This year’s theme is “Orchids Gone Wild,” and the show runs February 28 – March 2. There will be thousands of stunning orchids on display and for sale. You’ll also find lots of […]

Did I mention that my time away involved laying on a beach in Mexico? ‘Cause that’s what we did. We did do lots of exploring, too, including orchid hunting. We were disappointed not to find orchids within Cancun, but our visit to the ancient Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza made up for it. We were […]

One of my most frustrating experiences as a beginning orchid grower was understanding this thing called “the dormant season.” My orchids all seem to be growing or flowering in the winter. Even some Dendrobiums and Cattleyas which didn’t seem to do anything all year long suddenly started growing and blooming in December. How could they […]

This Diplocaulobium is a great little Dendrobium relative that flowered today, and went a long way to pick me up from my winter doldrums. Its spider-like flowers last less than a day, opening in the morning and closing the same evening. But it more than makes up for its short-lived flowers by blooming frequently. I’ve […]

A friend of mine asked me about her Phal. She’s had it blooming in her living room for months, and suddenly this week the flowers all drooped and fell off. Then the bottom leaves turned to mush. I didn’t even need to see the plant to make a diagnosis — poor drainage. It turned out […]