AboutOrchids

Say what? You don’t need to be able to pronounce Myoxanthus to enjoy its funky flowers. If you do want to pronounce it, say “MY-oh-zan-this,” rhymes with “try go Kansas.”

This orchid is a relative of Masdevallias, and enjoys high humidity, cool temperatures, and constant air circulation. Its native home is Peru and Ecuador on the eastern slopes of the Andes, where it survives at elevations as high as 10,000 feet (3100 m.)

Just because it’s scented, don’t assume that you’d like the smell. This orchid has a funky scent, like rotting food. Fortunately it’s faint, and since I keep it outside all year, it’s not bothersome. Although we humans may not like the stinky scent, I’m sure it works perfectly to lure some fly or wasp to help pollinate it. A single flower emerges from the base of a leaf, and hangs upside down.

San Francisco is often covered in chilly fog in the spring and summer, but warms up when the fog disappears in the fall. True to form, we’ve been having warm October days. Today the backyard thermometer reads 86 F (30 C.) The garden is enjoying this latest warm spell, and there are lots of orchids and other flowers open.

We just added this unusual Ptilotus to the garden. It’s a drought-tolerant Australian perennial with feathery flowers. On the right, Asclepias flowers look like colorful shooting stars. Asclepias are better known as milkweeds, and are the preferred food of monarch butterfly caterpillars.

A white Japanese Anemone and a purple African Daisy show contrasting beauty.

This jasmine is the size of a small tree, and grows up a support pole for our back stairs. Dave and I routinely debate whether it’s supporting the stairs, or will someday pull them down. Several times a year, it bursts into bloom with honey-scented flowers. In the middle, a purple Epidendrum flower looks like it could fly away. On the right, Pink Sage flowers have graced our garden for years, thanks to seeds Dave brought from his home in New Orleans.

It feels like an embarrassment of riches to say that some of my orchid flowers last so long that they get dusty. Under ideal conditions, Phalaenopsis, Paphiopedilum, Epidendrum, and Cymbidium flowers can last for months, and dust can be a problem. Most orchid flowers can handle a gentle touch with clean hands or a clean cloth, but there is the risk of damaging a flower, so instead I usually use a hands-off approach. I prefer to clean them with a few gentle breaths, or by washing them with the spray mister filled with room-temperature, good-quality water. Cleaning is best done early in the day so the flowers can dry, since flowers that remain wet overnight can rot.

Don’t be offended if I wish you the problem of dusty orchid flowers – it’s a great problem to have!

If you saw this unusual Stenoglottis orchid growing in its native home in South Africa, and it wasn’t in bloom, you would probably think it was an ugly weed. If you saw it in bloom, though, I’d bet you would be amazed at its masses of dainty purple polka-dotted flowers with fringed lips.

Stenoglottis longifolia grows as a terrestrial orchid, with deciduous leaves and underground tubers that go dormant in winter. While it’s growing, it requires regular water and fertilizer. Flower spikes start to grow in late summer, and continue to grow for a few months, opening tiny flowers along the way.

The thin, soft leaves don’t look like those of most other orchids. This picture shows a Stenoglottis orchid at the end of summer, with some leaf tips that turned brown during a heat wave, and flower spikes emerging from the base of the plant. The leaves completely die back in the winter to be replaced by fresh ones in the spring.

Like all plants, orchids need a healthy root system to survive and thrive. At least once a year, orchids enter a growth cycle when they generate new roots. These new roots are light green at the tips, and turn white with time. As they age over several months, they may turn brown.

Since orchids are epiphytes, or air plants, they don’t mind growing with their roots sticking out in the air. As long as there is adequate humidity, many orchids prefer to keep their roots exposed. Some varieties, such as Vandas and their relatives, dislike having their roots in a potting mix, and insist on growing with their roots in the open air.

With inadequate humidity, over-watering, or old age, orchid roots die. Any roots that feel mushy or squishy are dead. They should be removed immediately, since they can spread rot and disease to the rest of the plant. If your orchid is losing lots of its roots, it may need to be repotted.

When people ask me to recommend a good book for basic orchid care, I usually suggest Easy Orchids: Simple Secrets for Glorious Gardens–Indoors and Out by Mimi Luebbermann. With clear writing, the author demystifies orchid care, explaining what you need, how to buy, and essential details for some common orchids. Her aim is to prove that many orchids “grow as easily as daffodils.”

It’s got some beautiful photographs, and provides basic orchid info in clear, non-technical terms. Luebbermann has authored numerous other gardening books, and it shows in her straightforward style. She concisely summarizes orchid care for about 2 dozen commonly grown types. If you’re looking for help growing beautiful tropical flowers, give this book a try.

Warning! If you visit an orchid show, you may leave with newly-purchased plants in hand and a giddy feeling, like you don’t know what you just got yourself into. I’m just saying.

Moth orchids, or Phalaenopsis, love warm temperatures. But one trick used by orchid experts is to give Phals a few weeks of cool nights in the fall. This can trigger the Phals to start growing a flower spike within a month. Normally their nighttime minimum temperatures should be about 65 F (18 C.) By giving them a nightly drop to 60 F (16 C) for a period of 2 – 4 weeks, you can mimic natural changes in their native homes in Southeast Asia. Don’t let Phals drop below 60 F (16 C,) since that can harm them.

If you have an orchid someplace where you can’t control the temperature directly, there are a few tricks to try. If your Phal is on your office desk, place it on the floor before you punch out at the end of the day. Remember that heat rises, so the floor will be cooler than the desk. If your Phal is near a window, push it a bit closer in the evening, where it can feel some of the coolness from outdoors (this trick may not work if your windows are well insulated.) In either case, remember in the morning to move the Phal back on top of your office desk, or away from the cool window, so that it can enjoy daytime warmth. Once a flower spike starts to grow, stop giving your Phal the nightly cool treatment.

That always seems like a fun word to say — equinox. Equal day, equal night. On this day, everywhere in the world has about 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night. The north of the planet moves into fall, and the south of the planet into spring. No matter which direction you’re headed, feel free to enjoy some of Dave’s wonderful photography. Here are pictures of a Masdevallia and a Laelia that were both frequent bloomers for us over the summer.

With warm weather forecast for this week in San Francisco, the garden is still blooming and buzzing, and doesn’t seem to notice the calendar. But of course change is in the air, and plants respond accordingly, just as they have for millions of years. Plants from tropical regions of the world, including many orchids, undergo seasonal cycles as well. Many orchids are finishing their cycles of growth and moving towards winter dormancy. In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy the garden while the weather still permits.

As a regular visitor to Puerto Vallarta over the years, it’s exciting for me to learn about Vallarta Botanical Gardens. About 1/2 -hour drive south of Puerto Vallarta, the gardens were opened in 2005 in the coastal mountains of the Mexican state of Jalisco. Their mission is “the propagation, promotion, study, enjoyment and discovery of Mexican plants, especially orchids.” With more than 3000 plant species to enjoy, there are orchids, palms, ferns, bromeliads, and cactus. Among the orchids are Mexican natives such as Laelias, Sobralias, and Vanillas.

The Vallarta Botanical Garden is a non-profit organization working to fight habitat destruction, counter over-collection of native orchids, and preserve Mexico’s greatest botanical treasures. Visitors can enjoy orchid conservatories, tropical gardens, birdwatching, hiking trails, and the Plantation House Restaurant and Visitors’ Center. We’ll definitely visit on our next trip to Mexico, but for now we’ll have to just enjoy visiting online.