AboutOrchids

For years, I’ve needed glasses to see small things. Despite that, I bought this lovable little Lepanthes orchid at February’s Pacific Orchid Expo. I knew that its blossoms would be tiny, colorful specks. A month after bringing it home, it popped open a flower, then another, and another. It’s kept going ever since. The charming […]

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 […]

A newly discovered orchid has been named for Sir David Attenborough. Lepanthes attenboroughii from Peru joins the list of living things named in honor of the famed British biologist, author, broadcaster, and environmentalist. Lots of species already bear his name, including a butterfly, gecko, snail, pitcher plant, and even a dinosaur. I believe that this […]

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 […]

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 […]

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” […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]