Archive for the 'Mini Orchids' Category
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 […]
Categories: Cool Growers, Fragrant Orchids, Growing, Mini Orchids, Photos, Watering
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Tuesday, September 7th, 2021
Blue is a rare floral color, but the vast orchid family doesn’t disappoint, so it is possible to find true blue orchids. Some feature brilliant tones, while others have subtle hues. There are also imposters. Blue Moth Orchids in the supermarket are actually white blooms which are injected with dye. Many orchid varieties with “blue” […]
Categories: Mini Orchids, Misc, Photos
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Saturday, August 28th, 2021
Many orchid species are scientifically discovered each year. For example, botanists have recently named three new Lepanthes from the Ecuadorean Andes, one of the richest orchid habitats on the planet. Lepanthes is a genus of pleurothallids with over 1000 species. They’re miniatures with tiny but colorful flowers. The plants have been named Lepanthes oro-lojaensis, Lepanthes […]
Categories: In the News, Mini Orchids
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Tuesday, July 20th, 2021
About five years ago, I bought this little Sarcochilus hybrid at an orchid show, and it’s been a reliable bloomer. It pumps out brilliant red flowers from a four inch (10 cm) pot for a month or two in late spring and early summer. They’re such a rich red that my cell phone camera can’t […]
Categories: Cool Growers, Mini Orchids, Photos
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Monday, June 7th, 2021
My indoor orchid shelves don’t have much room to spare, so if I buy a warm grower, it’s got to be a miniature. At the 2020 Pacific Orchid Expo, I spotted this little charmer for sale. Leptotes pohlitinocoi has a name that I can’t pronounce, but this small Cattleya relative is definitely worth the shelf […]
Categories: Fragrant Orchids, Growing, Mini Orchids, Photos, Warm Growers
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Wednesday, January 6th, 2021
The Streaked Rock Orchid is a wonderful Australian native. Its strange flowers resemble elaborate birds in flight. Its little, pencil-like leaves turn purplish-red in the sun, making it look like a pointy, colorful hedgehog. In the wild, Dendrobium striolatum lives attached to rocky cliffs in the states of New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania. Our […]
Categories: Cool Growers, Fertilizing, Fragrant Orchids, Growing, Mini Orchids, Photos
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Thursday, October 8th, 2020
I’ve got garden pictures to share, but mostly this post is a chance to brag about my Epidendrum, which has been in constant bloom for over 17 years. It began flowering in early 2003, and has never stopped. Through heat waves, driving rains, light frosts, strong winds, pounding hailstorms, pest attacks, and smoky conditions, it […]
Categories: Cool Growers, Mini Orchids, Photos
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Wednesday, July 22nd, 2020
Summer brings plenty of blooms, including these four orchids which live outside in our back garden. In the first row of photos, there’s a mini Sarcochilus hybrid with deep red flowers. Hybrids like these have been popular in Australia for years, and lately I’ve been seeing more of them available in the USA. It’s less […]
Categories: Cool Growers, Fragrant Orchids, Mini Orchids, Photos
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Saturday, June 27th, 2020
In Defense of Plants exposes The Deceptive Ways of the Calypso Orchid. This dainty, charming species grows in northern forests of North America, Europe, and Asia, where it’s pollinated by bumblebees. The bees are attracted by the orchid’s sweet fragrance, yellow hairs on the flower lip which mimic pollen, and nectar spurs. But the yellow […]
Categories: Cool Growers, Fragrant Orchids, In the News, Mini Orchids, Orchids in the Wild, Photos
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Sunday, June 7th, 2020
In Japan, BotanyBoy describes the plight of the Samurai Orchid. Cultivated for centuries, they’re now endangered in the wild. Populations have shrunk as native habitats have been destroyed or altered by humans. Old growth forests only remain in small, disjointed pockets. They include areas around temples, shrines, rivers, and the very tops of mountain ridges. […]
Categories: Conservation, Cool Growers, Fragrant Orchids, In the News, Mini Orchids, Photos
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