AboutOrchids

If you saw me at Pacific Orchid Expo 2010, it’s likely I looked like a kid in a candy store. Eyes wide, I’m at the mercy of the sights and scents as I jump from one orchid treat to the next. Fortunately, unlike candy, photos have no calories. Whether it’s new hybrid colors on a […]

These 3 pictures from last year’s show should be enough to convince you to come to this year’s Pacific Orchid Expo. If you need more convincing, or just want to see more pictures, check out this link to a local news story about the show. Held at Fort Mason, the San Francisco Orchid Society’s annual […]

Besides orchids, few flowers inspire more superlatives than Heliconias. These blooms scream tropical. Sometimes called lobster-claws, wild plantains, or false birds-of-paradise, their bizarre flowers have wild colors and shapes. These remarkable blooms are actually small flowers encased in large, colorful bracts. Some varieties have flower spikes that grow more than 8 feet (2.4 m) long. […]

If you’re ever in a tropical rainforest, and you’re wondering where the orchids are, look up! After all, most orchids are epiphytes, or air plants, which live in the forest canopy. In the wild, they attach to tree trunks and branches. Roots grow into cracks and crevices of the bark, but they don’t harm the […]

Whether you had a nice valentine’s weekend or not, I’ll think you’ll enjoy this NPR story and remarkable video of a frustrated bee. The objects of the bee’s intentions are orchids that leave him brokenhearted with pollen stuck to his head. C’est l’amour, but it provides a great close-up of orchid pollination. Here’s a direct […]

As cut flowers and live plants, orchids are more popular than ever for Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year. No matter whether you’re celebrating love, the Year of the Tiger, or both, here are some orchid buying tips: Moth Orchids and Lady Slippers are great choices since their blooms can last for months, and they […]

“Buy a hybrid” is good advice when you’re buying a car, and also when you’re buying an orchid. Hybrids are great choices for Valentine’s gifts, especially for people new to orchids. They’re easier to grow and have showier flowers than most species. You can check out orchid buying basics in my previous posts here and […]

Last year when I blogged about orchids on a volcano, it was about Akatsuka Orchids on Hawaii’s Big Island. This time, the orchids are growing right on the rim of a volcanic crater. Dave took some great photos of wild orchids while we hiked the Kilauea Iki trail in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The first […]