Vandas are orchid royalty, but they can be challenging to grow. They need sun, warmth, regular water, high humidity, and lots of space for their long, dangling roots. Since they don’t like being potted, they’re usually grown on mounts or in baskets, with their roots hanging freely. That makes them difficult for home growers, who […]
Oxford Botanic Garden has great orchids, and many other impressive plants, too. The photos in this post include a couple of orchids, more from the glasshouses, and sights from the surrounding grounds. The glasshouses feature fantastic collections of exotic tropical flowers, carnivorous plants, desert plants, and more. Outdoors, the gardens offer ample winter interest, with […]
London’s Kew Gardens is home to the Temperate House, the world’s largest Victorian glasshouse. It was closed for renovations for five years, and reopened in 2018. The skilled staff at Kew have regrown its lush greenery, and it’s full of remarkable plants. During my visit there in early December, I found a couple of Cymbidiums […]
RHS Garden Wisley doesn’t have Kew Gardens’ international reputation, or Oxford Botanic Garden’s ancient pedigree, but it does have plenty of amazing orchids. Wisley is located south of London in Surrey County. When Dave and I visited in early December, its large Glasshouse featured lots of elegant Lady Slippers, dazzling Stanhopeas, and other orchids in […]
Celebrate today’s solstice with more photos from my recent visit to Kew Gardens in London. These pictures are all from the Princess of Wales Conservatory, which is one of several large glasshouses at Kew. They include a few orchids, some brilliantly colorful bromeliads, and other tropical plants. The conservatory features separate tropical and temperate zones […]
The UK’s oldest botanical garden has plenty for orchid lovers to enjoy. Oxford Botanic Garden & Arboretum dates to 1621, making it older than London’s Chelsea Physic Garden (founded 1673) and Kew Gardens (founded 1759.) Oxford’s garden covers 4.5 acres (1.8 hectares,) and grows over 6000 different plant species. The garden includes seven adjacent glasshouses […]
In London’s December chill, it’s great to warm up by stepping into one of the glasshouses at Kew Gardens. I was fortunate to visit last week, and enjoyed lots of warmth and tropical beauty. These photos show some of the orchids on display in the Princess of Wales Conservatory. The vast orchid family reliably offers […]
One post from Singapore’s National Orchid Garden certainly wasn’t enough, and here are more photos to prove it. With so many brilliant, tropical varieties growing outdoors in the sunshine, Dave took lots of amazing pictures. Colorful Vandas, Dendrobiums, Cattleyas, and Renantheras all competed for his attention. The blooms include many historic hybrids. Some have won […]
Orchids are all over the place in Singapore. The National Orchid Garden, Singapore Botanic Gardens, Cloud Forest Conservatory, Flower Dome Conservatory, and Supertrees are packed with them. Dave even found orchids when he wasn’t expecting them, like at HortPark, one of Singapore’s lesser known green spaces. It’s two blocks from the office where he was […]
The island nation of Singapore has a grove of trees unlike any others in the world, the Supertrees. These tall, human-made structures are covered with air plants, or epiphytes, like orchids, bromeliads, and ferns. They’re superb examples of how to incorporate orchids into vertical gardens. Planting beds around the bases of the Supertrees also feature […]
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