AboutOrchids

Dave and I decided to welcome the new year with a visit to Strybing Arboretum in Golden Gate Park. The Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum has thousands of varieties of plants from all over the world. We didn’t see any orchids, but we enjoyed some of the other sites of the park.

First, there’s a beautiful Princess Flower against a background of ferns. In the middle, this great Heather shrub is a South African native. On the right, a large bromeliad sports a bright red bloom.

I don’t know what this flower is on the left, but I loved the shape and structure. The aloe in the middle is another fascinating South African native, with a hypnotic spiral growth pattern. On the right, a bed of ferns adorns the base of the new de Young Museum.

A young boy walking near us at a pond thought this was an evil red-eyed duck. I’m not very good at identifying birds, but I think it’s a coot. It could still be evil, though. On the right, 2 park residents warm up in the winter sun.

Looking more like a hyacinth than an orchid, Arpophyllum giganteum has dense clusters of pretty purple blooms. This orchid can tolerate a wide range of temperatures, but needs cool nights in  winter in order to bloom. Here in San Francisco, I grow it outdoors all year with bright light and regular water. Its native habitat stretches from Mexico to Venezuela.

Close-up photos show that the mini flowers do resemble other orchids, just upside down. The lip of the flower is on top, and a hint of yellow color shows the location of the pollen. Dozens of 3/8 inch (1 cm) flowers spiral around a spike that can reach 16 inches (40 cm) in length. Dave photographed a particularly nice specimen a few years ago at the San Francisco Orchid Show, shown in the final picture.

If it’s feeling cold and dark where you live, there’s no better escape than a very tropical orchid show. Welcome in the new year with beautiful flowers that take your imagination away to warmer, sunnier lands.  This is a partial listing of shows, so if you don’t see one near you, check your local orchid society or botanical garden.

This mini Masdevallia relative, with a flower smaller than a pea, has a long name, Scaphosepalum. Despite its diminutive size, it’s capable of staying in bloom for months or even years at a time. The new flowers emerge in succession along a lengthening spike, while the older flowers fall off.

Several years ago, this orchid bloomed continuously for over 2-1/2 years, and had a flower spike that reached over 3 feet (0.9 m) before it finally stopped flowering. This year it’s been in bloom a mere 8 months. I’m hoping to keep it happy enough to challenge my previous record. For this plant, that means regular water and high humidity, similar to its native home atop the Andes in South America.

An insect managed to pollinate one of the flowers. This seedpod matured quickly in a few weeks (compared to many other orchids whose seedpods take months to mature.) The photo on the right shows the tiny burst seedpod resting on a bed of moss. The seeds look like tiny white fibers, and are easily picked up by the wind and scattered like dust. Maybe next year we’ll have some Scaphosepalum weeds growing in our garden.

I’ve been loving this orchid book I got, a great gift from Dave’s grandmother Audrey. It’s The New Encyclopedia of Orchids: 1500 Species in Cultivation, by noted botanist Isobyl La Croix of the Royal Horticultural Society. Within its 500 pages, there are lots of interesting and unusual orchid species, many not commonly seen. You’ll find Masdevallia relatives Dracula and Platystele, Oncidium relatives Capanemia and Rodriguezia, and bizarre Australian orchids like Chiloglottis and Corybas.

This book supplements beautiful photography with detailed care information, from Acampe to Zootrophion, and also reflects recent scientific research and name updates. There are hundreds of  gorgeous pictures, and more stunning flowers than you could ever imagine.

To all, “Happy Hanu-kwanzaa-mas,” as I like to say. Dave prefers “Merry Knish-mas” from his favorite cartoon Chowder. To Audrey, thanks so much for the wonderful book. We both love you very much.

The upcoming winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year, but on the California coast we’re lucky to be able to garden year-round. Despite the pre-winter chill, my friend Kim has lots in bloom in her garden. She lives a few blocks from us near Dolores Park, and she’s an orchid nut like me! Her beautiful Maxillaria picta made a great display on the day we visited.

On the left, bromeliad flowers look like blue ribbons. In the middle, a little black bug tempts fate on the edge of a carnivorous pitcher plant. On the right, a tiny purple flower shows beauty on a miniature scale.

Hens-and-chicks sit among fallen ginkgo leaves, providing some autumn color on a San Francisco street. Back in our garden, the hot pink flowers of a Christmas cactus brighten up the short days. In the wild, Christmas cactus grow alongside orchids as air plants in tropical rainforests.

Related to Miltonia, Oncidium, and Odontoglossum, this charming mini species is an easy orchid. Cochlioda vulcanica is frequently used in hybridization, cross-bred with orchid relatives to pass on both its hardiness and its beauty.

It lives in tropical cloud forests at high elevations in the Andes, where it is pollinated by hummingbirds. The side view shows the long, narrow tube that perfectly accommodates their long, thin beaks.

This orchid needs cool temperatures year-round, high humidity, and strong air movement. They prefer to be potted in small pots. Dave’s macro lens shows incredible details. The dark area between the yellow spots is the hole where the hummingbird inserts its beak. In our garden, however, I think the hummingbirds prefer the Epidendrums.

As we move through the last few days of autumn, in the Northern Hemisphere at least, don’t panic if your orchid drops some leaves or looks a little peaked. With less light and cooler days, many orchids are resting in their dormant periods. If your plant is otherwise healthy, and a few leaves drop, it’s probably your orchid settling into dormancy. Older leaves, or ones that are lower on the plant, may drop as part of this seasonal cycle. Of course if your orchid is dropping all its leaves, turning black, or turning to mush, you have a problem. Your first reaction may be to water more, but this will only exacerbate the problem. Overwatering at this time of year can cause orchids to rot and die. Instead let the plant and its roots dry thoroughly before watering again.

For myself, as someone who tends to overwater, I have a trick to limit the damage I can do. Instead of a watering can, I  do my daily plant check with a a spray mister in hand. That satisfies my urge to tend to my plants, and reduces the chances that I’ll overwater them.

Regular readers may notice a penchant for the unusual in my orchid collection. So this Trigonidium egertonianum, with a flower that looks like it could be the face of a crab, should come as no surprise. It’s another example of the incredible diversity within the orchid family.

This orchid is native to a wide area of Latin America, from Mexico through Central America, Colombia, and Ecuador. It prefers to be grown in intermediate temperatures, with regular water during spring and summer, and bright light. The name of the Trigonidium genus comes from the Greek word trigonos, or three-cornered, describing the flower shape.

Orchids make wonderful green holiday gifts, since they cost about the same as cut flowers, but can last much longer. Phalaenopsis, Paphiopedilum, and Dendrobium orchids can often hold their flowers for weeks or even months. Take advantage of these orchid shows to add some tropical flowers to your December holidays.