Archive for the 'Photos' Category

Orchids with the Easiest Names

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2025

Moth Orchids, Lady Slippers, and Pansy Orchids have easy common names, but most orchids don’t. They have their Latin names, which can be daunting. Understandably, many people are intimidated by long, scientific words. Fortunately, not all of them are difficult. Check out this list of 10 orchids with Latin names that you don’t have to […]

A Season of Orchids

Saturday, December 21st, 2024

Celebrate today’s solstice with orchids from our garden. All these photos are from this autumn. The season changes with some blooms already fallen, but others still going strong. As the days start to lengthen after the winter solstice, new cycles of growth will begin. I’ve highlighted most of these orchids in past posts (although I’ve […]

This Vanda Orchid Is a Flower Machine

Thursday, December 12th, 2024

This Vanda is a flower machine. It keeps blooming, and it’s grown well enough to need a bigger vase. I blogged before about the handy Vanda trick I use. These orchids are normally kept mounted, in baskets, or bare root. Those methods can be challenging for home growers outside the tropics. They’re much easier to […]

A Dancing Lady Orchid on the Rocks

Thursday, November 14th, 2024

A couple years ago, while repotting a Dancing Lady Orchid, part of the plant broke off. With a few leaves, roots, and pseudobulbs, I could have put it the small piece back the pot with the rest of the plant, but I decided to experiment. We have a few large stones in the backyard, shaded […]

Greenhood Orchids with Booby Traps

Saturday, October 19th, 2024

Some orchids can be sneaky. Greenhoods, or Pterostylis orchids, have a surprise in store for small flies, gnats, and mosquitoes. These strange flowers have tricky lips. As an insect enters the flower, the hinged lip snaps shut. This briefly imprisons the pollinator inside the bloom. The only escape route is a tight squeeze past the […]

A Decade Growing Orchids in Pacifica

Saturday, October 12th, 2024

Over ten years ago, Dave and I moved from San Francisco to nearby Pacifica. A decade later, I’ve learned about a lot about growing orchids so close to the ocean. Even though we’re only 10 miles (16 km) from our former home, it’s a very different microclimate. Now at 1/3 mile (0.5 km) from the […]

Orchids for September’s Equinox

Sunday, September 22nd, 2024

With the end of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, it seems like a good opportunity to show off a few of our summer orchid blooms. The first seven photos are outdoor orchids, and the last five are indoor ones. Our cool, foggy weather, interspersed with sunny days, has kept them happy and flowering. For most, […]

A Wood Rein Orchid Popped up in Pacifica

Sunday, September 15th, 2024

Until recently, the only wild orchids I’d seen around the SF Bay Area were non-native Weedy Orchids. So it was an exciting moment earlier this month when I spotted two beautiful flower spikes by a Pacifica hiking trail. They had dense clusters of small, unusual blooms. Dave and I could both see that the tiny […]

More Photos from Orchids in the Park

Monday, September 9th, 2024

Every year, Orchids in the Park has plenty to offer. I’m always amazed by the flowers, so diverse that it seems impossible that they’re all related. In addition to my earlier post, here are more examples of their incredible variety. With so many stunning blooms, sweet scents, and friendly orchid lovers, it was another successful […]

Big Crowds Attended Orchids in the Park 2024

Friday, August 9th, 2024

The San Francisco Orchid Society put on its annual Orchids in the Park show at the end of July. It was a great event, crowded with plants and with people. The displays included lots of amazing flowers, like the Lady Slippers shown in the first row of photos above. An impressive variety of orchids, from […]