AboutOrchids

While San Francisco’s winter hasn’t been as bad as other parts of the country, spring is always a welcome arrival. It’s easy to celebrate with more beautiful flowers from this year’s Pacific Orchid Expo.

Winter is the rainy season here, and we’re still in the midst of a chilly series of storms. Today, at least, the clouds have cleared, and the sun and blue sky have made an appearance for a little while. It’s enough time for me to greet the season outside in the garden, before the next dark clouds arrive. If your first day of spring is lacking in warmth, enjoy these blooms as a reminder of colors besides brown, white, and gray. Spring’s renewal is on the way.

The orchid family is full of strange pollination mechanisms. Catasetums have sweet scents, but it’s their incredible trick for gluing pollen to bees which has intrigued scientists from Darwin until now. When a bee touches a hair trigger, the orchid ejects glue and pollen to land on a precise spot on the bee’s back. I’ve read descriptions and seen pictures, but nothing captures it like video. Check out “An Orchid Explosion” below, courtesy of NPR’s ScienceFriday:

Unlike most orchids, Catasetums have separate male and female flowers. This video only shows the pollen process for the male flowers. We can hope for a future NPR video to show the female side of things. Also check out the podcast “The Secret Life Of Orchids,” which has a discussion about this story, the recent Roadkill Orchid story, and an interview with the same South African scientist quoted there.

You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, but rotting meat works even better. A strange little South African orchid has figured this out, and attracts pollinating flies with a deathly odor. Satyrium pumilum grows as a terrestrial in wet, sandy soil. During the day, its flowers emit a weak scent of decaying flesh. Scientists have been comparing flies on the orchids with flies on nearby roadkill. They’ve found that the orchids lure a single fly species, and use different scents to steer the flies into position for pollen contact. “We know it’s common for orchids to deceive insects into pollinating them. We also know that some plant species can mimic carrion to attract flies. What we didn’t know was how successful this was,” said Timotheus van der Niet of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The article includes a great photo of yellow orchid pollen stuck to the back of a fly. Obviously, this orchid stinks.

Orchid overload is a common side effect of the Pacific Orchid Expo. Surrounded by so many floral gems, it can be tough to figure out where to point the camera. Sure, there are standouts like this incredible lady slipper, but with 150,000 orchids to choose from, a bit of vertigo sets in. Fortunately, Dave is a level-headed guy, so you can enjoy photos of a harlequin Phal, a sunny Miltonia, and an award-winning black Dracula.

I look one way, and there’s a colorful Epidendrum hybrid. In another direction, there’s a related species with a striking flower lip. One more turn leaves me gasping at the impossible shape of a Bulbophyllum bloom.

No sooner do I regain my senses than I’m struck by some unusual Masdevallias. Whether human-made hybrid or naturally-occurring species, each offers a distinct beauty and charm.

Dendrobiums offer even more variety, making it difficult to see the similarities between related plants. In the next 2 photos, they share some colors, but their shapes seem irreconcilable. Lastly, the dizzying pattern on a Phal hybrid falls into focus for the camera lens. It’s enough to make my head spin.

Can you believe that scientists didn’t discover this large purple flower until the 21st century? Phragmipedium kovachii, conveniently abbreviated as PK, hid in the Peruvian Amazon until 2001. After their discovery, it took several years for plants to legally enter cultivation, and now they’re starting to appear at orchid shows. Dave and I found this gorgeous lady slipper making its debut at last weekend’s Pacific Orchid Expo. This remarkable flower was almost 6 inches (15 cm) wide; some PK blooms can be as large as 9 inches (23 cm.)

Orchid pros consider PK the most exciting discovery of the past hundred years. The brilliant, oversize blossoms on these Paph relatives can make any flower lover swoon. However, the species requires precise watering and potting conditions, and it’s difficult to grow. Fortunately, hybrids are easier to grow, and some crosses are already entering the market. They’ll bring traits of this magnificent flower into more common cultivation. Hybrids will also lower prices. At the show, some of these seedlings cost $150 each. In coming years, hardier and more affordable varieties will reveal some of PK’s mysteries from deep in the Amazon.

The 59th Annual Pacific Orchid Expo is off and running! This year’s theme is “Natural Wonders,” and there are plenty to be found. Dozens of exhibits contain countless treasures. Here’s a small sample:

Bay Area residents and visitors have until Sunday to catch this year’s show at Fort Mason. The largest orchid show in North America has plenty to offer, including exhibits, books, art, potting demos, and a silent auction. Knowledgeable vendors from around the world can help you find the right plant for your conditions. Enjoy the show, and check back here soon to see more natural wonders.

Illinois College biologists are bringing some rare orchids home to Hawaii. Like I blogged last May, this Platanthera species, also known as the Fringed Orchid, is one of the few true island natives, and it’s endangered. Habitat destruction, invasive plants and animals, and theft from the wild have severely reduced the wild population. In 1992, Hurricane Iniki almost wiped out all the Fringed Orchids on Kauai. Only one remains there, with a few dozen more on Maui and Molokai. Illinois College and the National Tropical Botanical Garden have been collaborating to grow them and return them to the wild. This weekend, they’ll plant about 90 seedlings from an Illinois lab back in their native Hawaiian habitats. While celebrating this success, Chipper Wichman, director of Kauai’s National Tropical Botanical Garden, added that “This does not ensure the survival of this species. What this does is it gives us a huge step forward.”

This lengthy list illustrates the global popularity of orchids. Shows span the world, especially as the northern half of the planet eagerly awaits spring. Major orchid shows are happening in San Francisco, Santa Barbara, San Diego, London, and Taiwan.

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San Francisco hosts the largest orchid show in North America this week. The 59th Annual Pacific Orchid Expo starts with a Gala Benefit Preview on Thursday, March 3. The show is open to the public Friday, March 4 – Sunday, March 6. Tickets are available online. With 150,000 orchids under one roof, you’re guaranteed to have a jaw-dropping good time. Dave and I will be there with our cameras.

A tropical escape is closer than expected for New Yorkers. “The Orchid Show: On Broadway” promises to dazzle at the New York Botanical Garden. The exhibit runs from March 5 – April 25. Tony award-winning set designers showcase over 5000 orchids and the Great White Way. The exhibit also provides activities for kids.

From March 5 – 13, the City of Brotherly Love hosts the 2011 Philadelphia International Flower Show, the world’s largest indoor flower show. This year’s theme is “Springtime in Paris,” and includes plenty of orchids. Tickets are available online.

In addition to these and other long-running exhibits, Cleveland Botanical Garden offers “Orchid Mania – Purple Reign” from February 26 – March 27. It’s an orchid tribute to the most royal of colors. Along with beautiful blooms and wonderful scents, the exhibit includes a photography contest.

Vallarta Botanical Gardens has orchids, chocolate, and vanilla to enjoy, but it also has a painful side. Pointy cactus spines and sharp yucca leaves abound. Bougainvillea flowers crown vines with large, nasty thorns. No matter how beautiful, they can puncture and pierce. The gardens are perfectly safe, as long as you stay on paths and pay attention. However, with my camera distracting me, I usually manage to stumble into something prickly.

Of course, these desert growers are just defending themselves in the hot, arid climate. Thorny plants may not have the opulence of orchids, but their barbed exteriors can’t hide their beauty. They endure the Mexican heat that slows me down, even with a water bottle by my side. Yet, that doesn’t matter much when the saw-edged leaves of a Blue Agave scratch my arm. At least the cut provides a medicinal excuse to drink the agave’s tequila.

Many of these are great choices for gardeners in desert and semidesert areas who don’t mind pointed plants. If it’s tough for you to provide high humidity for orchids, plant succulents and cactus instead. For example, try growing this tree with prickly bark, which looks like an invention of the Spanish Inquisition. Floss Silk Trees are native to South America, and related to Africa’s fascinating Baobab trees. I’ll stick with orchids, thank you, and save on the bandages.