Archive for June, 2011

Hybrid Names

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

Since most orchids sold are hybrids, let’s continue the Orchid Names category with more about them. When a hybrid is a cross between plants from the same genus, it uses that genus name. For example, 2 Phalaenopsis parents produced the hybrid Phalaenopsis Bonita: Phalaenopsis Bonita = Phalaenopsis stuartiana x Phalaenopsis buyssoniana If a hybrid is […]

Blue Phals

Friday, June 24th, 2011

A South Florida news team is hot on the trail of a blue Phal mystery. Blue Phals sell at major retailers like Home Depot and Lowe’s. They’re not naturally blue, but dyed instead. The horticulture industry has been dying other flower varieties for years, but the patented process is relatively new to orchids. Nobody paints […]

Summertime

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

With late spring rains followed by warm temps, our urban garden is offering lots of blooms for today’s solstice.  The flowers range from a small, pastel Epidendrum to an Orchid Cactus with brilliant red blossoms as big as dinner plates. Fittingly for the first day of summer, we’re having a heat wave. I’ve got my […]

Orchid Sirens

Sunday, June 19th, 2011

San Francisco Bay Area orchids highlight an article in the Los Gatos Patch. Numerous native species grow in the Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Francisco, and they call to longtime orchid lover Ed Nazzal like sirens. He braves poison oak and rattlesnakes to find lovely locals like the Steam Orchid, Epipactis gigantea, and the […]

Urban Garden

Wednesday, June 15th, 2011

Urban gardens are more popular than ever, and our little patch of San Francisco exemplifies the trend. In the back yard, this great Masdevallia species has been blooming for 6 weeks. This flower has faded from its most brilliant, but it’s still a vivid pink. The next photos show a white calla lily and a […]

Orchid Names

Sunday, June 12th, 2011

OK, I admit it — as a website and blog about orchid basics, it’s past time that I tackled understanding orchid names. Whether reading a plant tag, researching care info, or talking to a fellow orchid grower, we all encounter those long names. So I’ve created a new category, Orchid Names, and this is the […]

The Orchid in Chinese Painting

Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

The Smithsonian presents “The Orchid in Chinese Painting” at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington DC. With 20 works dating from the 15th to the 19th centuries, the exhibit shows the long history of Cymbidiums in Chinese art and culture. For thousands of years in East Asia, orchids have been symbols of beauty and […]

The Charming Lady Slipper

Saturday, June 4th, 2011

An intimidating Latin name, Paphiopedilum venustum, threatens to distract from this beautiful Paph. Fortunately, that translates to the very pronounceable “Charming Lady Slipper.” The Latin for “Stunning Lady Slipper” might fit better, but perhaps that name was already taken. Indeed, “charming” seems an understatement for this wonderful species from the southern slopes of the Himalayas. […]