AboutOrchids

During our recent visit to Vallarta Botanical Gardens, Dave and I took lots of Epidendrum photos. Mexico has many native varieties. It was easy to see that they’re tough plants like my own, and reliable bloomers. Some of the most colorful ones were growing in full tropical sun.

The Epidendrum species known as the Greenfly Orchid is less colorful, but no less fascinating. It’s native to eastern Mexico and the southeastern USA, where it grows in a wide range from Louisiana to North Carolina and south to Florida. This species can tolerate light freezes. Its masses of small, greenish-yellow flowers have a sweet scent. Botanists changed its name several years ago from Epidendrum conopseum to Epidendrum magnoliae, but the nickname Greenfly Orchid remains the same.

Without a name tag, I’m not sure what this next species is. It may be Epidendrum atroscriptum, which is native to southern Mexico. But it also looks like Epidendrum paniculatum. Fortunately, the Mexican Hermit Hummingbird in the final photo didn’t care about long Latin names. Paused on a branch at Vallarta Botanical Gardens, it appeared to share our appreciation of these beautiful blooms.

Australian scientists recently celebrated the successful cultivation of the bizarre Eastern Underground Orchid. Now, they’re learning about plant genetics from its close cousin, the Western Underground Orchid. This weird plant is also a Rhizanthella species, and lives below ground, except when its flowers peek through the soil. Without green leaves for photosynthesis, it survives by feeding off a fungus. It has fewer chloroplast genes than any other plant. The shrunken genetic code will help scientists better understand chloroplasts, and how plants lose genes that they no longer need. Those are big contributions to science from such a strange, small orchid.

If valentine romance is turning into worry over your new orchid, take heart. With a few care basics, orchids are as easy as common houseplants. Check out these tips, and then you can turn your thoughts back to your valentine.

• All orchids need high humidity. Dry air can lead to wilting flowers, drying leaves, and pests.
• You’ll eventually have to remove ribbons, wrapping paper, or decorative containers if they block the holes in the bottom of the flower pot. Orchids need good air flow and water drainage around their roots. They’ll quickly rot if left sitting in water.
• It will help to identify your orchid so you can learn specific light, temperature, and water needs. You don’t need to figure out its exact name, only the family of orchids where it belongs.
• Phals, or Moth Orchids, are the most common varieties sold. If the shape of your flowers look like the first photo below, then that’s probably what you have. Other common varieties include Cattleyas and Oncidiums.
• If you can’t identify your orchid, use these basic care tips.
• Established orchid growers should continue to maintain winter dormancy, keep up humidity, and watch for pests. When new roots or leaves start to appear, check to see if it’s time to repot.

Chocolate is a Valentine’s Day requirement for chocoholics like me, and is made from the seeds of a small tropical tree. It’s not an orchid, but it is a fascinating plant that’s long been cultivated in Central and South America. My favorite food comes from cocoa pods, the fruit of Theobroma cacao, also known as the Cocoa Tree. Beans from the pods are dried, cleaned, roasted, and pressed to remove their bitterness, and turned into edible cocoa. Then, they’re just a recipe away from being a delicious confection.

Chocolate’s cultivation and history share close ties with that famous orchid vanilla. By the time Montezuma greeted Hernan Cortes with a vanilla-flavored chocolate drink in 1519, the peoples of Central and South America had been cultivating both crops for several millennia. Ancient Mayans and Aztecs drank chocolate mixed with chiles, cinnamon, honey, peanuts, or vanilla. They also used cocoa beans as currency. The conquistadors brought chocolate to Europe, where the fruit became the treat of royalty, always flavored with vanilla extract. It wasn’t until the court of famous sweet-tooth Queen Elizabeth I that English confectioners tried vanilla with different sweets.

Fresh cocoa beans are very bitter, but have a sweet, pulpy coating that tastes just like chocolate (just don’t bite down!) Nowadays, farmers grow the crop throughout the tropics. West Africa and Southeast Asia supply most of the world’s cocoa beans. Vanilla remains a common flavoring in chocolate. Consider it a bonus that when you eat chocolate, you may be tasting a drop of orchid, too. Now bring on that Chocolate Valentine!

Kew Gardens is hosting a Tropical Extravaganza, billed as “London’s most colourful festival.” From February 5 – March 6, Kew showcases a rainforest display with tropical plants, including thousands of orchids, in the Princess of Wales Conservatory.

With the planet’s largest plant collection, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew has long been the center of the botanical world. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, and deserves a visit at any opportunity. The Tropical Extravaganza festival provides a welcome escape from winter, and presents brilliant colors and intoxicating floral perfumes. If you can’t make it to London, you can still enjoy some of Kew’s floral beauty online.

Want to buy your valentine an orchid? Try vanilla! Don’t get me wrong; I’m not suggesting you buy a vanilla plant. As you can see from the healthy specimens at Vallarta Botanical Gardens, these heavy vines are best left to climb up tropical trees or hang in greenhouses.

However, it is easy to buy a gift made with vanilla. As the world’s most delicious orchid, vanilla finds its way into many valentine’s essentials. Cakes, candies, cookies, perfumes, and scented lotions often contain it. Thousands of years ago, the native peoples of Mexico first used it as a flavoring for cooking, especially with chocolate. They created the process to dry and cure the seedpods, and bring out the vanilla beans’ distinct flavor.

Vanilla planifolia is the most common source for the natural flavoring. Shown in the next photo, it has the long, skinny seedpods familiar to cooks. Vanilla pompona is a less common source, native to Central America from Mexico to Panama. Its seedpods in the last 2 photos look like small bananas. Even if you don’t consider yourself much of a cook, it’s easy to use the beans to make vanilla sugar, vanilla brown sugar syrup, or your own vanilla vodka.

Vanilla’s tastiness and versatility keep it in the top ranks of valentine gifts. Of course, regular-size orchids with flowers also make excellent presents. Start by checking out these buying tips to find the right Phal, Paph, or Cattleya. You can always have vanilla with your valentine dessert.

North America, Europe, and Asia offer a multitude of shows this month. Many are perfectly timed to shop for Valentine’s gifts. Starting February 19th, Tokyo hosts the largest orchid show in the world, the Japan Grand Prix International Orchid Festival. It fills Tokyo’s biggest baseball stadium with orchids for 9 days, and attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors. Around the globe, from Vancouver to Boca Raton to Aachen, smaller shows inspire plenty of their own awe and astonishment.

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Five of the most prominent botanical gardens in the USA are offering tropical respites from winter’s chill. These orchid exhibits run for months, so you can recharge your botanical batteries through spring.

January 15 – March 13
As a remedy to Pittsburgh’s freezing temperatures, Phipps Conservatory invites you to take in their Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Show. Phals, Oncidiums, Dendrobiums, and Paphs sit among the ferns and palms in the Palm Court and the Sunken Garden.

January 22 – March 27
In Philadelphia, the Longwood Gardens Orchid Extravaganza beckons visitors to the warmth of Longwood’s 4 acre (1.6 hectare) conservatory. Filled with over 4000 orchids, there are Phals, Cattleyas, Cymbidiums, Dendrobiums, Oncidiums, and Paphs in a variety of displays.

January 29 – April 24
In Washington DC, the Smithsonian presents Orchids: A View from the East. This exhibit highlights centuries of orchids in Chinese art, culture, and medicine. From ancient Confucian ideals to Taiwan’s modern horticulture industry, orchids have deep roots in China. The exhibit includes hundreds of orchids and 15 paintings celebrating Chinese Cymbidiums.

January 29 – March 27
In St. Louis, Missouri Botanical Garden hosts its 2011 Orchid Show with a Mayan theme. Over 800 blooming orchids create a lush, tropical display alongside Mayan headpieces, sculptures, and textiles.

February 5 – April 10
Atlanta Botanical Garden presents Orchid Daze – Liquid Landscapes. Thousands of orchids grace fascinating water features. Orchid sights and scents join the tranquility of water walls, fountains, jets, and beads.

That’s Spanish for “How beautiful!” It’s a frequently heard exclamation at Puerto Vallarta Botanical Gardens. These three members of the Cattleya family certainly inspire the thought.

Vallarta Botanical Gardens contains jungle trails and a clear mountain river where you can cool off (don’t forget your bathing suit!) Surrounded by bougainvilleas of every hue, exotic palms, and countless tropical flowers, it can be easy to miss the orchids. Some hide in the foliage; some are in pots or hanging in trees. Since we visited during the winter dry season, most were not flowering. Fortunately, the orchid conservatory had more than enough blooms for our cameras.

You can donate online to the gardens, and support their mission for “the propagation, promotion, study, enjoyment, and discovery of Mexican plants, especially orchids.” If you’re in the area, one visit will show why the gardens were listed as a must-see destination in the travel book Lonely Planet Mexico. In case you need any more convincing, check out these photos showing two orchids and an anthurium. You’ll be saying “¡Que belleza!” before you know it.

Sunny beaches and tequila aren’t the only reasons to visit Mexico. Vallarta Botanical Gardens shows off the region’s wonderful biodiversity. It’s an easy bus or taxi ride from downtown Puerto Vallarta. Dave and I just returned from a great visit, and we took lots of pictures. First, of course, are the orchids. A sweetly scented Cattleya, an Oncidium, and an Epidendrum are among hundreds of native Mexican orchid species.

While hiking through the 20 acre (8.1 hectare) garden, we met two ornithologists doing research nearby. They happily pointed out and named several tropical birds for us. A brilliant blue San Blas Jay and bright yellow Cacique share a papaya lunch at a feeding station. A Mexican Hermit Hummingbird flutters its wings on a branch in the sun. Also, a bright orange butterfly feeds from a yellow bloom. Its damaged wing demonstrates the perils of its life in the Sierra Madre Mountains, maybe a close call with a hungry bird.

Dedicated to the study and preservation of native Mexican species, Vallarta Botanical Gardens resides in a tropical dry forest ecosystem at 1300 ft. (396 m) elevation. The gardens have more than 3000 plant species, including palms, tropical fruit trees, bromeliads, and succulents. In addition to the Orquideario (orchid greenhouse,) there are countless orchids mounted in trees, and Vanilla vines everywhere. The visitor center and restaurant are draped in white bougainvillea, with a pond of water lilies in front. Enjoy this sample of the floral beauty we saw, and I’ll have more pictures to share soon.