The Orchid Society of San Francisco hosts its annual Orchids in the Park show and sale this weekend, September 15 – 16. Held in the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park, the event also includes orchid care demos, lectures, and raffles. In case you need any more enticement, check out a few photos from […]
Here’s the second half of the list of orchids that I’ve grown outdoors in San Francisco. There’s no greenhouse, so they live constantly exposed to the elements. Sun lovers like the Epidendrums, Sarcochilus, Sobralia, and Zygo live on the back deck, and receive full afternoon sun when the fog retreats. Shade lovers like the Dracula, […]
Welcome to a new blog category for “Growing Orchids in San Francisco” with info of interest for the Bay Area. Some old posts fit the new category, too, so I’ll go back and re-label those with local relevance. This post is the first half of a list of orchids I’ve grown outdoors over the years, […]
When it’s easy to find Phals, Oncidiums, and Epidendrums in any supermarket, it is possible to become jaded by orchids. Fortunately, the vast orchid family is always full of surprises, and these photos from Pacific Orchid Expo 2012 certainly prove my point. Whether it’s an eye-catching hybrid, an unusual species, or a fresh color combination, […]
The Pacific Orchid Expo, the largest orchid show in the USA, delighted thousands of visitors in San Francisco this past weekend. To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge, this year’s theme was “A Salute to the Golden Gate.” Dave and I enjoyed a sunny view of the world’s most famous bridge on […]
To celebrate today’s solstice, I have more photos from last weekend’s Orchids in the Park, along with a few non-orchid shots from Golden Gate Park. Starting outdoors, end of summer delights included a fruit-laden pink passionflower and a working 1914 carousel at the Children’s Playground. The third photo shows part of the living roof at […]
It may sound like the name of a music festival in Golden Gate Park, but actually, it’s about orchids. They’re blue orchids to be exact, like the brilliant Dendrobium in the first photo. It’s an uncommon orchid color, and it’s only one of many standouts from Orchids in the Park 2011. Thanks to Dave’s photography […]
The “Golden Gate Gardener” on SFGate devotes the top half of a column to an orchid weed. No, it’s not the tropical Bamboo Orchid, but instead an emigrant from Europe, Epipactis helleborine. It’s related to the Stream Orchid, the native Epipactis that I grow. Epipactis helleborine has a home range across a broad swath of […]
You didn’t think I could fit all our great photos from the Conservatory of Flowers into one post, did you? Even with another post, it just scratches the surface. There’s so much to inspire and admire; it’s a spoil of photographic riches. Botanical beauty takes many forms, especially in the orchid world. I don’t know […]
From the outside, San Francisco’s Conservatory of Flowers is a fascinating building. Completed in 1878, it’s the oldest building in Golden Gate Park, and it’s on the National Register of Historic Places. It was one of the first municipal conservatories in the USA, and has a central dome that’s almost 60 ft. (18m) high. However, […]
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