It’s a rare pleasure to see orchids in the wild. Wood Rein Orchids are native to the west coasts of the USA and Canada. They don’t have very impressive flowers, yet it was terrific to find a healthy population in a Pacifica, California park last week. We spotted 10 flower spikes spread over a small […]
Welcome to autumn. Enjoy these recent blooms from our garden in honor of today’s equinox. These flowers may already be familiar to regular readers. I’ll include links for these orchids at the end of the post. This has definitely been the least foggy summer that I remember after many decades in the SF Bay Area. […]
Scaphosepalums aren’t very popular orchids. Having small flowers and long names doesn’t help. That’s a shame, because they’re beautiful and fascinating. Some have blooms which look like mustaches. Some resemble birds in flight, and some look like they have fangs. They can flower sequentially on the same spike, so happy plants may continue blooming for years. […]
Considering that it’s the smaller of San Francisco’s two annual orchid events, Orchids in the Park rises to the occasion. Stunning flowers compete for attention and awards. The sights and scents are amazing. My first post about last month’s show highlighted uncommon or rarely seen varieties. This post has even more. If you’re in awe […]
Last weekend’s Orchids in the Park was a thrill. As an orchid geek, I enjoy weird or unusual species, especially when I’m seeing them in person for the first time. This event provided me with several firsts. To start, the top row of photos above features the rare Dimorphorchis lowii, which boasts two distinct types […]
Meet Elleanthus amethystinus, a fascinating orchid from the Andes. Out of bloom, the plant looks like a small clump of bamboo, with pointed leaves on thin stems. But when clusters of bright pink flowers emerge, it’s obviously an orchid. The charming blossoms boast fringed lips, and resemble little joyous birds. Each flower is only about […]
For today’s summer solstice, enjoy these orchids happily growing wild in Colorado and Utah. The first row of photos features the Spotted Coralroot, an unusual leafless plant which only appears above ground when it blooms. Despite this peculiarity, its flowers are spectacular, as are its deep red stems. Below, the second row of pictures highlights […]
Ask locals in the San Francisco Bay Area where it’s the foggiest, and many will say Pacifica. The town that Dave and I have called home for over a dozen years even has an annual Fog Fest. Blowing in from ocean, the fog is fascinating and beautiful, even when it arrives on a chilly wind. […]
Artificial Intelligence is in vogue nowadays. It can be helpful, but it makes it tougher than ever to know what’s real and what’s not. That includes orchid photos. There are fake AI orchids all over. Actual orchids are beautiful and amazing enough. Phony AI photos go overboard, like slathering paint on a peacock. I guarantee […]
Like the rest of the US Southwest, the SF Bay Area is heading into the equinox today with a heatwave. High temperature records have been broken all week. For this first day of spring, here are more photos from the recent Pacific Orchid Expo, when temperatures were reasonable. The diversity of the orchid world is […]
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