Have you found an orchid growing in the wild, but can’t identify it? Go Orchids is an excellent online tool to learn about varieties native to the USA and Canada. Courtesy of the North American Orchid Conservation Center (NAOCC,) Go Orchids lets you search by location, by name, or by a series of botanical questions. Their online […]
Boo! There are orchids for every occasion, even Halloween. Here are some spooky orchids to haunt you, if you’re not too scared to go further… Ghost Orchids (first photo) — The famous stars of The Orchid Thief earn a phantasmic name from their weird white blooms. Since these strange plants are leafless, the flowers seem […]
As Dave and I explore our new hometown, we’ve been enchanted by this beautiful area. We recently took a short hike on Devil’s Slide Trail. Until recently, this was part of California Route 1, also known as the Pacific Coast Highway. Nicknamed Devil’s Slide, this stretch endured decades of landslides, road closures, and drivers occasionally […]
Joining your local orchid society is one of the best ways to learn about orchids. Let’s say you’re a novice, and you’ve already discovered the treasure trove of basic orchid info here at AboutOrchids. Your local orchid society can help you build on that knowledge. The people you meet will share your love of orchids, […]
A Dracula orchid that resembles a monkey face? An Anguloa orchid which looks like a baby in a blanket? Art and design magazine BoredPanda features great photos of orchids and other flowers which look like something else. From the everyday Moth Orchid to the bizarre Flying Duck Orchid, it’s obvious that Mother Nature sometimes recycles […]
AboutOrchids has moved to a new home! We had rented a sunny garden apartment in the middle of San Francisco since the mid-1990’s, but our building was sold last year. With San Francisco’s eviction epidemic making national news, we weren’t surprised when the new owners kicked us out. It’s been very stressful, but fortunately, Dave […]
What looks like a delicate flower, but is actually an aggressive predator? The Orchid Mantis is one of nature’s most surprising creatures. Native to Malaysian and Indonesian rainforests, these insects really resemble flowers. With a cheery pink color, and legs that look like petals, their orchid disguises are so effective that their flying insect prey […]
Greet the new year with orchids! With these calendars, everyone can enjoy 12 months of remarkable flowers. Offerings from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the Smithsonian Institution really caught my eye. They’re just a few of the great 2014 choices.
In the UK, Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) is saving orchid seeds. As protection against extinction, the MSB stores seeds from thousands of plant species. Since orchid seeds are so tiny, they can be difficult to conserve. Orchids have the smallest seeds of any flowering plants. Some are only as big as specks of dust, […]
There’s much more to the California Academy of Sciences than a rainforest. As one of one the nation’s preeminent natural history museums, it also features an extensive aquarium, a planetarium, a living roof, and even a small penguin colony. This post highlights some of the creatures living in the museum. Starting in the aquarium, the […]
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