Archive for the 'Cool Growers' Category

Our Rain-Soaked Winter Garden

Friday, January 27th, 2023

After years of drought, we don’t typically complain about rainy days in California. More than three weeks of storms, however, led to lots of complaints. From December 26th to January 19th, we received approximately 20 inches (50.8 cm) of precipitation, including a single day when we had over 5 inches (12.7 cm.) We also had […]

New Zealanders Can Help Unravel a 250-Year-Old Orchid Mystery

Tuesday, December 27th, 2022

Massey University student Hayden Jones and Botany Curator Carlos Lehnebach are launching a citizen-science project to solve an orchid mystery. Maikuku, also known as the White Sun Orchid or Thelymitra longifolia, is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most common orchids. Although it was scientifically discovered 250 years ago, botanists wonder if its beautiful white blooms […]

Big, Bold Sobralia Blooms

Thursday, December 15th, 2022

This Sobralia orchid has been a reliable cool-grower in our garden for over a decade. Its scientific name, Sobralia macrantha, means “big-flowered Sobralia” and it’s no lie. These large, purple blooms with their frilly lips can span 10 inches (25 cm,) but mine are usually a little smaller. A few years ago, I moved this […]

A Very Reliable Cochlioda Orchid

Monday, November 14th, 2022

This brilliant pink Cochlioda orchid has been a reliable bloomer for years. I bought this charming miniature almost two decades ago, and it flowers every autumn. Each of its spikes can hold over two dozen blossoms which open sequentially, so the pink keeps going for three or four months. This fall, it’s already been in […]

Weedy Orchids in the Wilds of Pacifica

Friday, October 7th, 2022

True to their nickname, Weedy Orchids are tough enough to survive harsh conditions. This invasive species is also known as the Broad-Leaved Helleborine or Epipactis helleborine. Last year, I did two blog posts, here and here, about Weedy Orchids thriving in a small forested area of our neighborhood. They’ve returned this year, their blooms flanking […]

Orchids in Our Late Summer Garden

Thursday, September 15th, 2022

Our Pacifica garden is finishing up the summer with radiant orchids. There are lots of great colors, small blossoms and large, and a swelling seedpod on my Prosthechea. It must be have been pollinated by a busy little Anna’s Hummingbird. The fruit has been growing for over two months already, its wilted flower still hanging […]

Meet the Sarcochilus Hybrids

Thursday, July 28th, 2022

Would you like like to meet some charming, attractive Australians? Sarcochilus orchids are brilliant Aussie gems. They’ve been hybridized Down Under for a while, but until recently, there weren’t many hybrids available in the USA. Increasingly, I see more of them on sale and at orchid shows. This post includes 15 different varieties which were […]

Summer’s Off to a Colorful Start in Our Garden

Friday, July 8th, 2022

After a sunny spring, the summer fog has arrived, and it’s keeping our plants happy. Start the garden tour with the orchids in the first row of photos: a brilliant yellow and orange Prosthechea, a white and orange Coelogyne, and a hot pink Masdevallia. There’s one more orchid, the white blooms in the first photo […]

A Wild, Weedy, and Intoxicating Orchid, Part 2

Monday, November 8th, 2021

The Broad-Leaved Helleborine is indeed a wild, weedy, and intoxicating orchid. It’s an invasive species in North America, with nectar that drugs its insect pollinators. On the coast, just south of San Francisco, the plants near us grow in a tough botanical neighborhood. Their small patch of woods on a steep hillside is full of […]

A Sweet Little Caucaea Orchid

Wednesday, October 27th, 2021

This Caucaea was a great find at a San Francisco Orchid Society sale last year. It’s a cool-growing miniature with a strong, sweet fragrance. Caucaeas are in the Oncidium family, and they’re named after the Cauca region of the northern Andes. Caucaea is pronounced “kaw-KAY-uh.” This species is Caucaea phalaenopsis, named for its resemblance to […]