If, like me, you’re very unlikely to make it to London in time, you can still enjoy this article about the show in The Baltimore Sun. They have a nice photo gallery that includes 4 pictures of Phals.

This BBC article features an award-winning Miltonia display. There’s a good photo gallery there, too.

AsiaOne News has a story about Queen Elizabeth admiring some Taiwanese orchids during her visit to the show.

Also check out this article from the Telegraph, “Guns and chainsaws highlight plight of the rainforests” about an award-winning display that pleads for conservation. It’s an essential message, even among all those dazzling flowers.

Of course, orchid conservation doesn’t require a badge. Illinois College students are hoping to return a rare Hawaiian orchid to the wild. Although it’s home to innumerable orchids today, Hawaii’s remoteness meant that only 3 orchid species existed in the islands before humans arrived. Now all 3 native species are seriously endangered, and there are only 36 Platanthera holochila plants remaining in the wild. Hope is coming from an Illinois lab, where hundreds of this species’ seedlings are slowly growing, destined for reintroduction to native habitats in Hawaii. If all goes well, the Illinois College students and their biology professor are hoping to bring the first batch home next March. From colleges to cops, orchids can use everybody’s help in their struggle for survival.

Whether or not you needed an Icelandic volcano to remind you that Mother Nature is fully in control of things, Earth Day gains urgency with each passing year. We can’t stop a volcano, but we can take action against human-caused threats to orchids, like habitat destruction, climate change, pollution, and theft of wild plants. Many orchid species go extinct every year, some completely unknown to science. Other may survive in cultivation, but disappear from the wild, more broken strands in the web of rainforest life. In honor of Earth Day, take action to save orchids. A few good places to start include:

• American Orchid Society
• Nature Conservancy
• Greenpeace
• European Orchid Council
• Orchid Conservation Coalition

To become involved locally, find a nearby orchid society or botanical garden. They’ll welcome any time, energy, or donation you can offer.

Here in San Francisco, we set a record high of 80F (27C) yesterday, and although today is a more seasonal 65F (18C,) spring is definitely here. But even if winter is not releasing its grip in your neck of the woods, there’s one more reason to celebrate. This news article in The Independent of London describes the exciting rediscovery of the bizarre Ghost Orchid, long believed to be extinct in Great Britain.

Britain’s Ghost Orchid shares the same common name with the famous Ghost Orchid of Florida’s swamps in The Orchid Thief, but they’re two completely different species. However, Britain’s Ghost Orchid may be even more peculiar than Florida’s. Neither species has leaves, but the British species “behaves more like a fungus than a flower, according to the naturalist Peter Marren, author of Britain’s Rare Flowers.” It lives underground, and doesn’t depend on sunlight. Instead, it makes food in its roots with the help of a fungus. It only comes into view with small, ghostly white flowers when conditions are right. As the holy grail of British botany, it’s rediscovery certainly adds a boost to any spring celebration.

Located in a tropical rainforest just a few miles north of Hilo, these orchids grow outdoors in the beautifully tended gardens. There’s a special section for orchid displays, but as you look around, you’ll discover orchids are also spread throughout the whole valley. They have many of the most commonly grown varieties, such as Phals, Cattleyas, Dendrobiums, and Oncidiums, alongside some less commonly-seen tropical orchids, like the brilliant red Renanthera in the next photo set.

Besides being a magnificent tourist destination, Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden plays an essential role as a sanctuary for endangered plant species. The Garden operates as a non-profit organization, and is also a study center and seed bank dedicated to conservation of rare tropical plants. If you can’t make it to Hawaii, you can still enjoy their flowers by ordering a tropical flower bouquet from their website. They can ship a piece of Hawaiian heaven anywhere in the USA in only 2 days. They obviously have heaven enough to spare.

Dr. Jost works for Ecuador’s EcoMinga Foundation, a non-profit conservation group dedicated to preserving Ecuador’s astonishing biodiversity, much of which is still unknown to modern science. He stated that “It’s a very exciting feeling to find a new species. People think everything has been discovered, but there’s much more to be discovered.”

He found the new orchid growing among another orchid’s roots. He had collected the larger orchid several months earlier, but didn’t see the miniature one until it bloomed.

If you’re interested in learning more about orchids that are native to the USA and Canada, Wild Orchids Across North America is a great read, and has a chapter devoted to the Small Whorled Pogonia.