AboutOrchids

As the days lengthen and warm on the Northern California coast, our spring garden has burst into bloom. Starting with the orchids, there are Cymbidiums, Masdevallias, Dendrobiums, and more. Usually our rainy season has wound down by April, but we had light showers for the past couple weeks, which put plant growth into overdrive. We’ll gladly take the rain, but it has not been enough to bring us out of our multi-year drought.

Our non-orchid blooms include a great Camellia near our front door. Its luxurious red flowers are enough to placate my annoyance with how messy the tree is; it drops blossoms, petals, buds, and leaves all the time. My old Dwarf Jasmine is much neater, and has filled its pot with small, sunny flowers. Nasturtiums grow like crazy here. Several years ago, I planted a few varieties. They’ve been crossing with each other to create new color combos and patterns every year. Along with Dave and me, there are plenty of butterflies, bees, and birds that are enjoying our spring garden.

Nossa! Brazil is full of amazing flowers, and Orchid News is a digital magazine which brings the country’s orchids to life. It was published for many years, but then paused. Now, new issues are being put out sporadically. However past issues are online, and provide plenty to read. There are lots of informative articles and great photos. Most of the magazines are available in both English and Portuguese; some are Portuguese only.

It takes me a while to sort through and tag show photos from two cell phones and a camera, but the task is now complete. Pacific Orchid Expo 2022 presented a total orchid overload, which is my idea of paradise. There were orchids you could find in a supermarket, but there was so much more. Check out additional pictures from my previous two posts here and here.

The blossoms were big, small, and tiny. Elegant, weird, and goofy. And just spectacular. There were plenty of brilliant colors and strange color combinations. The next row of photos includes tiny flowers, including a light blue Dendrobium with blooms so miniature and thin that it seems possible to see individual cells in the photo. After that, there are a couple of shots of strange pleurothallids which don’t really look like flowers.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with supermarket orchids either. But it is important to see that they represent just a minuscule fraction of the orchid family’s wonders. San Francisco’s show certainly proved the point.

For the past two years, I’ve only listed events with basic health precautions, because I don’t want to be part of any irresponsible behavior which has undoubtedly worsened this pandemic. Now mask restrictions have loosened in many places, even here in cautious California. (Of course, that caution has served us well. For example, San Francisco has had one of the lowest COVID death rates in the country.) Although the pandemic has slowed in the USA, it’s not over. But I can’t keep assessing safety conditions for these events. It’s been extra work for me to do so, sometimes requiring a lot of time to find the info. Whether shows require precautions or not, I certainly encourage everybody to protect themselves and others. Wearing masks and getting vaccinated can help us all. Enjoy April’s orchid events safely.

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Botanical illustration is both an art and a science. It emphasizes scientific accuracy, but also captures the magic of plants. The Smithsonian video below highlights three important women who were botanical illustrators. They painted precise details of orchid blooms, but often didn’t receive credit or professional respect. Sarah Drake, Blanche Ames, and Regina Olson Hughes lived in the not-too-distant past, when women were discouraged or prevented from becoming scientists. Their illustrations remain valuable scientific works today.

A British botanical illustrator, Nelly Roberts, worked for 56 years as the official orchid artist for the RHS. Next week on April 2^nd at 2:00 pm, there will be a “Guided Walk and Nelly Roberts Tribute,” when a memorial will be placed on her unmarked grave in London. Learn more about Nelly Roberts from the Loughborough Road Histories Project.

It’s great to celebrate the first day of spring with some greenery, and this striking Lady Slipper certainly fits the bill. Its green stripes and squiggles are distinctive and dramatic. This is the Charming Lady Slipper, or Paphiopedilum venustum. I’ve had this plant for many years, but this past winter was the first time it bloomed with six flowers at once. The blossoms have lasted for over two months, and are now starting to fade.

This plant is an “album” variety, meaning that the flowers lack the reddish hues of the typical form, and the green really stands out. The last picture in the post shows a different specimen from an old orchid show with the more common color form. It has a little bit of red on the petals and pouch. They’re attractive plants even when out of bloom, with captivating green patterns, or mottling, on their leaves.

Read more about this Lady Slipper in this past post. Happy equinox.

Attend a free online symposium about orchid preservation. The Orchid Conservation Alliance does great work saving orchids. Leaders from three of its projects in Ecuador and Colombia will present updates and answer questions for this Zoom-posium. Even though there is no cost, prior registration is required. The event will be held on Saturday, March 26th, from 9:00 am – 1:30 pm, Pacific Daylight Time.

Citizen scientists can contribute a lot to orchid research. Australians can help by finding wild orchids and taking photos. First, choose an area to explore by checking the Atlas of Living Australia. Next, go into the wild, and be observant and curious. Take photos, not plants. Then, upload the pictures to iNaturalist Australia or Wild Orchid Watch. To help limit illegal plant poaching, it’s best to remove location metadata before posting online. Experts will verify the plant identity. Researchers and conservationists can use the records for their work.

Aussie orchids can be found all around coastal and inland areas, and there are even some desert species. Like much of its native wildlife, Australian orchids are fascinating and often bizarre. From Sun Orchids, Rock Orchids, and Donkey Orchids, to Greenhoods and Flying Duck Orchids, there are varieties which are showy, and others which don’t even look like flowers. Scientists hope to sequence DNA from every Australian native orchid species to understand and conserve them better.

Here are few more photos from last weekend’s big orchid show. The exhibit area and the sales area both featured wide varieties of species and hybrids. There was so much more than standard supermarket orchids. The flower colors, shapes, and fragrances inspired lots of superlatives. A few types, like the purple and white Dendrobium in the first picture above, had such strong scents that I could smell them through my mask. Whether it was the latest, showiest hybrids, or tiny, obscure species, there was something for everyone.

The orchid show schedule is picking up with spring. Events listed below have basic health precautions. Last-minute cancellations may happen, so it’s wise to double-check before attending.

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