Archive for the 'Mini Orchids' Category
Tuesday, March 27th, 2012
When I first bought this unusual Japanese species at Pacific Orchid Expo 2009, I didn’t know if I could grow it. My purchase consisted of 3 tiny Orchis tubers, each smaller than a pea. Along with planting instructions for this mini terrestrial, the vendor included its Japanese name, uchouran, meaning “butterfly wing orchid.” I planted […]
Categories: Cool Growers, Mini Orchids, Photos, Problems
Comments: 5 Comments
Sunday, November 13th, 2011
Here on the California coast, the Cymbidiums spoil us. I’ve seen luxuriant blooms on neglected orchids stuffed into sidewalk planters. Gardeners inherit abandoned plants from earlier tenants, sometimes without even realizing that the strap-like leaves belong to orchids. It turns out that our mild climate mimics the slopes of the Himalayas where these orchids grow […]
Categories: Cool Growers, Fertilizing, Fragrant Orchids, Growing, Mini Orchids, Photos, Watering
Comments: 6 Comments
Tuesday, October 11th, 2011
Miniature orchids have all the beauty of their larger cousins, but only take a fraction of the space. These tiny treasures enable orchid lovers to assemble a tropical collection in a single room, on a windowsill, or under lights. Mini forms exist in the Phal, Catt, Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Masdevallia, and Oncidium families, to name a […]
Categories: Books, Mini Orchids, Photos
Comments: 6 Comments
Friday, September 23rd, 2011
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 […]
Categories: Events, Fragrant Orchids, Growing Orchids in San Francisco, Mini Orchids, Misc, Photos
Comments: 7 Comments
Saturday, August 20th, 2011
No, it’s not winter — it’s just another cool, foggy San Francisco summer. Fortunately, it’s the perfect climate for this Bolivian beauty. Dozens of delightful pink and purple Masdevallia flowers opened more than a month ago in our back garden, and they’re still going strong. This species is native to elevations of 8000 – 9000 […]
Categories: Cool Growers, Fertilizing, Mini Orchids, Photos, Watering
Comments: 8 Comments
Saturday, July 9th, 2011
If you think that orchids are all delicate and fragile, here’s a hardy Australian mini that will surprise you. This Sarcochilus is one tough species, related to Phals and Vandas. In the wild, it grows as a lithophyte, or rock plant. Its roots attach to cliff faces in eastern Australia, and they hold on despite […]
Categories: Cool Growers, Growing, Mini Orchids, Photos, Problems
Comments: 7 Comments
Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, but rotting meat works even better. A strange little South African orchid has figured this out, and attracts pollinating flies with a deathly odor. Satyrium pumilum grows as a terrestrial in wet, sandy soil. During the day, its flowers emit a weak scent of decaying […]
Categories: Cool Growers, Fragrant Orchids, In the News, Mini Orchids
Comments: 6 Comments
Friday, January 14th, 2011
Orchid pros sometimes say that you’re not an orchid expert until you’ve killed your weight in orchids. Since I started growing them 20 years ago, I believe I’ve passed that benchmark, and here’s another for the scales. This African orchid, a Polystachya, looked fine in these 2006 photos. I bought this unusual specimen years ago […]
Categories: Mini Orchids, Photos, Problems, Warm Growers
Comments: 5 Comments
Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010
Looking back over photos from the Oakland Orchid Show, I realized that one post didn’t do it justice. With so many beautiful blooms, Dave and I had more pictures to share. Just to start, here are rich colors from a Vanda, a Cattleya, and an Ascocenda. Remarkable colors are only part of the show. Large […]
Categories: Events, Growing Orchids in San Francisco, Mini Orchids, Photos
Comments: 6 Comments
Monday, November 15th, 2010
Often I like to point out that many orchids are easy to grow, but some varieties deserve their difficult reputations. For example, this purple and white Comparettia ranks as one of the fussier members of the orchid family. It may resemble a simple Oncidium, but don’t be fooled. Cultivating these blooms takes some work. This Comparettia […]
Categories: Intermediate Growers, Mini Orchids, Photos, Problems
Comments: 5 Comments