AboutOrchids

As cut flowers and live plants, orchids are more popular than ever for Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year. No matter whether you’re celebrating love, the Year of the Tiger, or both, here are some orchid buying tips:

• Moth Orchids and Lady Slippers are great choices since their blooms can last for months, and they can survive low light levels often found in homes and offices.
• Cattleyas are the classic corsage orchid, with large, elegant flowers. Most have strong fragrances, and their blooms can last for weeks.
• Look for freshly opened flowers, with no shriveled buds. If the blooms are already open, it’s tougher to tell how long they’ll last. If there are a few unopened buds, you’ll be able to enjoy watching the flowers unfurl.
• On live plants, leaves should appear healthy and firm, not floppy or too soft. A few small blemishes may not indicate any problem, so if the plant seems to be in good shape, don’t make that an automatic disqualifier. Avoid plants with yellow or black leaves.
• For care purposes, it will really help to identify your orchid. Look for a plant with a name tag, or ask the vendor. It’s not necessary to know the exact name, just the family of orchids to which it belongs. If you can’t identify it, follow these generic orchid care guidelines.
• Bows, ribbons, and wrapping paper eventually need to be removed when watering so they don’t block essential drainage. Orchid pots must have holes in the bottom for water and air to flow through.

“Buy a hybrid” is good advice when you’re buying a car, and also when you’re buying an orchid. Hybrids are great choices for Valentine’s gifts, especially for people new to orchids. They’re easier to grow and have showier flowers than most species. You can check out orchid buying basics in my previous posts here and here. Below are 3 great examples of the thousands of hybrid varieties available, including a Phal, a Cattleya, and a Wilsonara.

For over a century and a half, orchid lovers have been crossbreeding different orchid species. Many resulting hybrids bloom with larger, more colorful, and longer-lasting flowers than their parent species; often they can survive some degree of abuse or neglect. New hybrids constantly top these remarkable standards.

Most orchids sold are hybrids. If you’re buying at a supermarket or big box store, it’s almost guaranteed that you’re purchasing a hybrid. The same hybrid vigor that allows mass-produced orchids to be shipped across oceans and highways guarantees you a tough plant. Many florists and garden centers carry only hybrids, however you can ask which are hybrids and which are temperamental species. You’ll probably only encounter orchid species at some florists and online vendors like Andy’s Orchids, a species specialist. If you want to tackle the pickier needs of an orchid species, Andy’s is a great place to start. But unless your valentine is an experienced orchid grower, stick with hybrids. Remember that you should never take orchid species from the wild or buy wild orchids (it’s illegal, and the plants probably won’t survive the shock anyway.)

You can tell whether an orchid is a hybrid or a species by its name, but many orchids lack name-tags at all, and complicated hybrid names can be written incorrectly. If you’re ready to dive into understanding orchid names, take a deep breath and start here.

One more orchid buying tip: if it’s below freezing where you live, try not to expose unprotected orchids to the cold air. For some orchids, just a few seconds of freezing temps can kill the flowers or the plant. Cover the plant, heat your hybrid car, pull right up to the exit, and pack in your hybrid orchid.

Last year when I blogged about orchids on a volcano, it was about Akatsuka Orchids on Hawaii’s Big Island. This time, the orchids are growing right on the rim of a volcanic crater. Dave took some great photos of wild orchids while we hiked the Kilauea Iki trail in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The first set shows Arundinas, or Bamboo Orchids, growing in one of the volcano’s forests. Hardened black lava provides a dramatic backdrop.

Kilauea is an active volcano, but the last major lava action in this crater was 1959. Much of the rainforest on the rim has regrown in the past half century, and we saw numerous Phaius orchids on the forest floor (“Phaius” is pronounced FAY-us, and rhymes with “pay us.”) Like Bamboo Orchids, Phaius are terrestrials that grow in soil and in rock crevices.

Although neither species is native to Hawaii, both have naturalized in rainy parts of the islands. These orchids are thriving despite harsh growing conditions near the 4100 ft. (1250 m) summit. Besides strong tropical winds and rains, the black lava really bakes as it absorbs heat from the tropical sun. More amazing than that, these orchids survive dangerous levels of sulfur dioxide gas that vent nearby, although we took our hike on a day when the winds were in our favor. The final photo shows the eastern section of Kilauea Iki with the forest growing on its walls and rim. At this end the crater is 400 ft. (122 m) deep and over 1 mile (1.6 km) wide.

This month brings major orchid shows in Tokyo, Miami, and here in San Francisco. There are also big flower shows in Philadelphia and Atlanta. And there are plenty of shows on Valentine’s weekend so your sweetheart can have fresh orchid blooms.

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In case you thought we only took pictures of orchids at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, I’ve got proof to the contrary. Personally, I’m fascinated by all manner of flora and fauna, but even the most devoted orchid snob would pause for these sights.

Of course, there were more astounding orchids also, like the sweet smelling Aerides in the next two photos. It’s related to Vandas and Phals, and one of the great warm growers that are tough to keep in foggy San Francisco. The third photo shows chains of tiny flowers from a colorful Dendrochilum.

This very strange Bulbophyllum is another warm growing orchid, with tiny flowers that look like passengers on a boat, or an upside-down caterpillar. The white flowers of a fragrant Neobenthamia look normal by comparison, even though they bloom on top of a tall, bamboo-like plant just like an Arundina.

Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden is my idea of orchid heaven. A few years ago, Dave and I discovered it by accident as we took a detour onto a scenic road on the Big Island of Hawaii. Now it’s one of our favorite destinations, and a glance at these photos will tell you why.

Located in a tropical rainforest just a few miles north of Hilo, these orchids grow outdoors in the beautifully tended gardens. There’s a special section for orchid displays, but as you look around, you’ll discover orchids are also spread throughout the whole valley. They have many of the most commonly grown varieties, such as Phals, Cattleyas, Dendrobiums, and Oncidiums, alongside some less commonly-seen tropical orchids, like the brilliant red Renanthera in the next photo set.

Besides being a magnificent tourist destination, Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden plays an essential role as a sanctuary for endangered plant species. The Garden operates as a non-profit organization, and is also a study center and seed bank dedicated to conservation of rare tropical plants. If you can’t make it to Hawaii, you can still enjoy their flowers by ordering a tropical flower bouquet from their website. They can ship a piece of Hawaiian heaven anywhere in the USA in only 2 days. They obviously have heaven enough to spare.

It’s time for an exercise with your imagination. Before you start with Dave’s incredible photos from our recent trip to the Big Island of Hawaii, envision warm tropical weather and a welcoming spirit of aloha. Imagine sweet scents perfuming the air. You’re in the midst of the natural paradise of Art and Orchids Bed and Breakfast near Hilo. Now that you’re relaxed and warming up, you can truly appreciate these marvelous blooms. Below are a stained-glass Cattleya, a real Cattleya, and a brilliant red hibiscus.

Since our arrival back in San Francisco, we’ve been greeted by cold winter rains. I hope these photos are helping to provide you with the same warm tropical thoughts that we’re trying to retain. Below are flowers from a Spathoglottis, a Hong Kong Orchid Tree (not a true orchid, but it smells just as sweet,) an Anthurium, and a Vireya. They’re all from the B&B’s gardens. If these blooms aren’t enough to mentally transport you to a lush, warm paradise, then maybe Art and Orchids’ great new website can help. And definitely check back here soon for some more inspiration — we have lots more Hawaii pictures to share. Now, if I can just find my sweater.

People often ask me whether to water their orchids with ice cubes. While I know using ice can work for some orchids, I advise against it. Cold water can damage flowers, leaves, and roots. Most commonly sold orchids originate from the tropics, where they never experience anything close to freezing temps. Even orchids that come from high elevation jungles, like Masdevallias and cool growing Dendrobiums, don’t want cold water while they’re growing or blooming.

While melting ice allows the orchid to slowly absorb water, two successive regular-temperature waterings given 10 minutes apart can accomplish the same. Also, ice cubes may not provide enough water to run through the pot and flush out fertilizer residues.

If you’ve been using ice successfully, it’s likely that you have a tough, modern orchid hybrid. However, even resilient hybrids may produce less blooms than normal because of the cold. For all plants, cold slows down metabolic processes that are essential for growth. If ice has been working for you, then don’t stop on my account. But otherwise, save the ice for your lemonade or cocktail.

Ok, so it’s not really Jurassic Park, just the Tree Fern Garden in Golden Gate Park. But this small corner of San Francisco sure feels prehistoric.

Having grown up with cold northeastern winters, I only saw ferns as houseplants until I moved to California. Seeing a fern the size of a tree still makes me think that I’m in the land of the lost. In the tropics and subtropics, tree ferns are often rainforest companions with orchids, but the closest orchids to these are at the nearby Academy of Sciences and Conservatory of Flowers.

Besides these large and ancient ferns, Golden Gate Park always has plenty of blooms, even during our cool, wet winter. Dave snapped these beautiful floral photos during a recent visit, and also took a shot of these dinosaur descendants enjoying a duckweed covered lake. They all provide a congenial step back to eons past, with no worries of sharp, prehistoric teeth.

January’s chilly start has been perfect for this beautiful Arpophyllum. Here on the California coast, this Cattleya relative is blooming outdoors on our back deck, and it’s easy to see how it acquired the nickname “Hyacinth Orchid.” This gorgeous plant was a gift from Dave’s parents, and it’s proving to be a reliable bloomer over the years. Dave took these photos indoors using different lighting than before. This set really brings out the pink in the flowers, but you can compare with the photos from last year when the sunlight really showed them in more of a purple hue.

This species is native to a large area from Mexico south to Colombia, Venezuela and east to Jamaica. Each 4 – 5 inch (10 – 13 cm) spike has dozens of small flowers neatly arranged in a spiral pattern. The last shot in this set shows unopened buds, a reminder that flowers can have charms even before they bloom.

This Hyacinth Orchid supports dozens of flowers even though it’s in its dormant season. I just let our sporadic winter rains take care of it, and don’t add water or fertilizer. With heavier rains, I move it below deck to keep it on the drier side.