As cut flowers and live plants, orchids are more popular than ever for Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year. No matter whether you’re celebrating love, the Year of the Tiger, or both, here are some orchid buying tips: Moth Orchids and Lady Slippers are great choices since their blooms can last for months, and they […]
“Buy a hybrid” is good advice when you’re buying a car, and also when you’re buying an orchid. Hybrids are great choices for Valentine’s gifts, especially for people new to orchids. They’re easier to grow and have showier flowers than most species. You can check out orchid buying basics in my previous posts here and […]
Last year when I blogged about orchids on a volcano, it was about Akatsuka Orchids on Hawaii’s Big Island. This time, the orchids are growing right on the rim of a volcanic crater. Dave took some great photos of wild orchids while we hiked the Kilauea Iki trail in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The first […]
It’s time for an exercise with your imagination. Before you start with Dave’s incredible photos from our recent trip to the Big Island of Hawaii, envision warm tropical weather and a welcoming spirit of aloha. Imagine sweet scents perfuming the air. You’re in the midst of the natural paradise of Art and Orchids Bed and […]
AeroGarden is my kind of modern appliance. It may be the size of a coffee maker, but instead of a hot beverage, it produces fresh flowers, herbs, and even vegetables. Besides doubling as your own personal, wintertime light and nature therapy, AeroGarden allows anyone with a little counter space to have a clean, automated indoor […]
With beautiful, long-lasting blooms, orchids are overtaking traditional holiday plants like Poinsettias in popularity. Despite their reputation for being difficult, many commonly sold orchids are easy to grow, and can survive some neglect and abuse. Like Poinsettias, many people buy orchids in bloom, and throw them out when the flowers fade. But even when orchids […]
If you’re looking for dozens of orchids that stay in bloom for a whole month and require no care, these orchid calendars are guaranteed to please. Which one should I buy? The 2010 Orchids Wall Calendar has stunning photos of different flowers every month. On the other hand, the Smithsonian Institution 2010 Orchids Wall Calendar […]
Pseudo-what? That word is pseudobulb, pronounced “SOO-doh-bulb.” Like the bulbs of tulips and daffodils, orchid pseudobulbs store water and nutrients during the dormant season. Many popular orchids, like Cattleyas, Miltonias, and Oncidiums, have them at the bases of their leaves. Pseudobulbs come in a wide variety of forms. They can be egg-shaped, spherical, or flat. […]
Our summer garden is in full swing, with lots of great blooms. There are plenty of big flowers, like these giant lilies. When a neighbor had some old bulbs destined for the trash, Dave rescued them and stuck them in the garden, hoping they would survive. Imagine our surprise when the plants grew 6 ft. […]
Here are some more photos from the tropical rainforest exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences. The first set shows 2 kinds of Epidendrums. With fragrant green, white, and purple flowers, Epidendrum paniculatum is a common species found from Mexico and Belize south to Brazil and Argentina. There are several color varieties of this species […]
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