AboutOrchids

Lady slippers, aka slipper orchids, amaze and inspire. Many orchid lovers specialize in growing these fascinating beauties. If you received a lady slipper gift for Mother’s Day, it’s most likely a Paph, or Paphiopedilum. Over 100 Paph species have been crossbred into countless hybrids. Their flowers all have a distinctive pouch which makes the blooms look enough like footwear to inspire the slipper nickname. Paphs are native to Southeast Asia and some South Pacific islands.

Paphs are certainly the most common slipper orchids, but there are also other varieties. Paphs, Phrags and Cyps have flowers with a pouch, and fortunately, they also have short nicknames. Phrags, or Phragmipediums, have brilliant colors and wild shapes. Phragmipedium kovachii, or PK, electrified the plant world in 2001 when its huge purple blooms were discovered in the Peruvian jungle. Other Phrags have petals which droop to the ground, reaching 2 ½ feet (76 cm) or more. Phrags are native to tropical jungles in Central and South America.

Cyps, or Cypripediums, include lady slippers native to the USA, Canada, Europe, and parts of Asia. They’re sometimes known as moccasin flowers. All types of lady slippers need regular watering and moist, shady conditions to mimic their homes near the rainforest floor. Most live as terrestrials, and need repotting every year or two. Paphs are easy to grow in a home or office, and are popular choices for novice orchid growers. Many Phrags and Cyps have special soil and watering requirements, and are best for experienced growers.

Orchids make it easy to celebrate Mother’s Day. Whether given as potted plants or cut flowers, orchids elicit delight and wonder. With a few orchid care basics, many types can stay in bloom for weeks or months. In addition, they rarely cause allergy problems.

To help flowers last their longest, check out these tips on where to place an orchid. If Mom wants to keep the plant after it’s done blooming, it’ll help to know what kind of orchid you’ve bought. Then she can better learn that variety’s needs.

As cut flowers, orchids don’t need any special care. Change the water every couple days to keep blossoms fresh.

Browse AboutOrchids for more growing tips, FAQ, and beautiful photos. Sharing your love with orchids has never been easier.

Biologists from William & Mary College in Virginia are looking for Lady Slippers. They’ve found some rare Cypripediums growing wild near campus, and these Lady Slippers are very finicky about where they live. They need precise growing conditions, both for themselves and for a mutualistic fungus which lives in their roots. In addition, natural selection has designed their extraordinary blooms as an intricate maze for their pollinators. “These are the most unlikely plants to live in so many ways,” biology Professor Martha Case says. “One of the reasons I got into botany was that they made such an impression on me.” With their research, the biologists hope to unravel the pollination process and follow the effects of climate change.

A sunny yellow Mexican orchid is here to celebrate today’s Cinco de Mayo fiesta. This mini Oncidium relative takes its name from its home country, and it’s easy to pronounce: say “Mexico” and add “-ah” to the end.

Mexicoas grow on oak trees in mountain forests in the Mexican states of Jalisco, Michoacan, Guerrero, Mexico, and Oaxaca. This species can handle a wide range of temps, and needs a nightly cool down. An elegant mini, it rarely grows above 6 inches (15 cm) high. The tiny Mexicoa plant is a marked contrast to its relatively large flowers, which can be 1.6 inches (4 cm) tall.

Nothing I’ve read says that this variety is fragrant, but I detected a light, lemony, daytime scent on my recent purchase from the Pacific Orchid Expo. Blooms can last over a month. It’s a colorful Mexican celebration.

May brings lots of flowers as orchid events take place around the globe. Many happen in time to find great Mother’s Day gifts in the USA, Australia, and South Africa.

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Recently I spotted Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Shampoo at the drugstore. After buying it, I saw that it contains “Orchis mascula flower extract.” This Orchis is a terrestrial species, probably a distant second to vanilla as the most important commercial orchid. Native to an enormous range of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Northern Asia, its underground tubers have been used in traditional foods, medicines, and even ice cream for millenia. Since it’s not a fragrant orchid, I’m not sure what purpose the flower extract serves for hair care, but the shampoo does leave my hair soft and moisturized like the label says. I certainly recommend you try it, and enjoy the flowers in your hair.

An orchid photo contest at the Cleveland Botanical Garden has picked some real winners. The pictures highlight the sights of the garden’s winter exhibit “Orchid Mania: This Side of Paradise.” The annual contest is co-sponsored by The Cleveland Plain Dealer and Cleveland.com, and this year saw almost 300 entries. Check out the winners’ gallery, or view all of this year’s photos online. Third place winner Carole Jurack observed “Sometimes just getting up close to the flower is all the incentive one needs to see the flower in a unique way within its environment.”

It’s easy to think that a tropical place like Hawaii is full of orchids. That’s certainly true in some parts of the islands, like Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden near Hilo. However, in other parts of Hawaii, orchids aren’t as common. Kona lies on the other side of the Big Island where rains are rare, and the air is dryer. The name Kona means “leeward” or “dry side” in Hawaiian. Orchids are limited here. During a recent visit, we saw lots of Dendrobium hybrids in pots or made into leis. We also spotted some Phal hybrids for sale at a roadside stand (sitting in full sun, by the way,) but not much more.

It’s an interesting contrast to the wet side of the island, where orchids grow as weeds and drip from the trees. It’s also a reminder that orchids don’t favor deserts: they need regular moisture and good humidity. In your own home or office, whether the heater is running or the air conditioner has turned on, orchids suffer in the dry air. Many other tropical plants, like Kona’s copious bougainvillea and fragrant plumeria, are drought-tolerant. They don’t mind the dry air, but orchids do. In dry conditions, they start to attract pests, quickly lose flowers, and fail to thrive. Bring orchids to the wet side, not with more frequent waterings, but with added humidity. Meanwhile, Kona has lots more stunning flora and fauna to enjoy.

Welcome to a new blog category for “Growing Orchids in San Francisco” with info of interest for the Bay Area. Some old posts fit the new category, too, so I’ll go back and re-label those with local relevance.

This post is the first half of a list of orchids I’ve grown outdoors over the years, with a few notes added. They’re all cool or intermediate growers, befitting San Francisco’s mild, foggy climate. Most have survived an occasional hailstorm, and we’ve managed to protect them from our rare winter freezes. For fellow gardeners in Sunset climate zone 17 where microclimates rule, you may find varieties that will work outdoors for you. The second half of this list will follow in a future post.

• Ada aurantica grows and blooms reliably every spring.
• Arpophyllum giganteum flowers dependably every fall. A few seed capsules appear each year.
• Bletilla striata grows and blooms reliably every spring.
• Chondrorhyncha lendyana flowered well, but died after repotting. I believe it prefers to be mounted.
• Cochlioda vulcanica grows and blooms faithfully every fall. Flowers often last through the winter into spring.
• Coelia bella was a new purchase last year, and flowered nicely for the first time last winter.
• Coelogyne mooreana grows and flowers reliably every summer.
• Cymbidiums guarantee blooms every winter. One of my hybrids has never failed in 15 years, and another blooms a second time in spring.
• Cyrtochilum macranthum flowers dependably with dozens of large blossoms at the end of each summer.
• Dendrobium kingianum and Dendrobium x delicatum grow and bloom reliably every spring, Den. kingianum needs a dry winter, but the Den. x delicatum hybrid can tolerate winter rains and still bloom.
• Dichaea glauca has grown for years but never flowered. I’ve tried it indoors too, without success. It continues to put out new growth each year, so there’s still hope I’ll figure it out.
• Dockrillia striolata didn’t bloom for the first 6 years I had it, but now blooms each spring.
• Domingoa (Nageliella) purpurea has flowered over the past 2 summers.
• Dracula sodiroi flowers sporadically. It might be more reliable if I used purified water instead of tap water, but I’m not set up for that outdoors.
• Encyclia vespa grew and bloomed well for many years. It required full sun.
• Epidendrums flower continuously for years. Keikis of cool-growing varieties turn into large plants within 3 years. The most vigorous type, which may be Epidendrum x obrienianum, is pollinated by local Anna’s Hummingbirds. Seed capsules often form, and seed is viable. Seedlings pop up in nearby bonsai pots, and can grow to flower in 3 years.
• Epipactis gigantea, a San Francisco native, grows and flowers vigorously each summer. Seed capsules occasionally form. It lives in a tray of water all year, even during winter dormancy.
• Helcia sanguinolenta blooms every other year in winter.
• Holcoglossum kimballianum has grown outdoors for 2 years, but not flowered yet. It lives indoors over winter.
• Laelia anceps thrives and blooms 2 or 3 times each year.
• Lemboglossum majale has only flowered once over the years. It may prefer warmer nighttime temps than we have.

When I think of Santa Barbara, I think of Cymbidiums. Recently Dave traveled there for work, and he found plenty to photograph at the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate (SBOE). With 5 acres (2 hectares) of gardens in a mild coastal climate, it’s no surprise that Cymbidiums thrive there.

But Cymbidiums are only part of the story. Since 1957, SBOE has offered a wide range of orchids for sale, including many of their own hybrid creations. Their emphasis is on temperature-tolerant orchids which can grow outdoors in much of the country. Besides Cymbidiums, SBOE has many tropical varieties with electric colors, like the Dendrobium and Vandas below.

SBOE’s decades of orchid expertise shines through in these photos. Visitors are always welcome to enjoy the estate, browse their huge collections of hybrids and species, and ask orchid care questions. Their gardens also includes palms, aloes, succulents, and many rare plants. Can’t get to Santa Barbara? They’ll ship orchids around the country.