With brilliant colors and fascinating shapes, orchids have become favorite gifts for Mother’s Day. Don’t worry if you don’t have a green thumb; most orchids don’t deserve their finicky reputations. A few care basics can help you enjoy your tropical flowers for a long time. To get the most out of your gift, check these […]
Shopping for the perfect Mother’s Day gift? An orchid hybrid is your best bet. Hybrids are crosses between closely related plants. Breeders cross-pollinate different orchid varieties, and then choose the best offspring. Hybrid vigor emerges when the best traits from both parents create tougher descendants. They are often easy to grow and flower, and hardy […]
After blogging about the spectacular orchids at the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley, it only seems fair to give the rest of the flowers a chance. There’s plenty more to the garden’s collections, with plants from around the world. Here are some of our best photos. The first six pictures highlight a few of the […]
It’s easy to spend a whole day enjoying the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley. Established in 1890, it has one of the largest and most diverse plant collections in the country, spread over 34 acres (13.8 hectares) of gardens and greenhouses. Among the botanical treasures, there are many unusual orchid species, which are rotated through […]
It’s no wonder why we love Masdevallia orchids. These two stunning examples are now in bloom on our patio, with their big, neon flowers atop tall stems, bobbing in the breeze. Thanks to Dave’s great photography, it’s easy to enjoy their charms. Believe it or not, both of these plants are the same species, Masdevallia […]
I’ve been digging deeper into our photos from the recent Pacific Orchid Expo, and these blooms jumped out to help greet spring. In the the USA’s Northeast, today is a welcome finish to a frigid, snowy winter. Here in California, spring is the end to our hopes that a rainy winter would replenish our reservoirs. […]
Orchids are full of surprises.With incredibly diverse shapes, colors, and fragrances, it’s hard to believe that these flowers are actually related to one another. No other flowering plant family has such rich palettes and fascinating designs. These examples from the recent Pacific Orchid Expo certainly prove my point. Many of these lesser-known varieties are the […]
It’s the Year of the Ram, and Chinese New Year is a great time for orchids. For millennia, orchids, especially Cymbidiums, have been treasured in East Asia for their rich fragrances and graceful foliage. Nowadays, they are popular gifts and decorations for Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival. Confucius […]
As I continue to sort through our pictures from this year’s Pacific Orchid Expo, I’m finding lots of great shots. Here are some of Dave’s photos. They’re wonderful examples of the stunning diversity of the orchid family, which goes far beyond what’s for sale at the supermarket. With their brilliant colors and strange shapes, these […]
The Pacific Orchid Expo is always amazing, and this year was no exception. San Francisco’s premier orchid event was a huge hit. Whether you’re a seasoned orchid addict like myself, or an orchid newbie, this past weekend’s show was overwhelming. Here are the first of our photos from the expo, and there are many more […]
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