In addition to this short list of online events, many orchid societies have moved all their gatherings online. Monthly meetings, sales, auctions, and expert talks are easy to access with an internet connection. Check with your local society for more.
Vanda orchids are a great remedy for a chilly winter. These happy purple blossoms are shining through our gray and rainy days. They’re the epitome of tropical, and the blooms last for weeks. Each flower is over 4 inches (10 cm) wide and tall. Last year, I blogged about how to grow a Vanda in a glass vase.
These exotic orchids don’t want to be potted, but fortunately don’t mind having their roots crammed into a glass. That makes it much easier to water them, and to keep the humidity high. A shallow layer of water kept at the bottom of the vase will evaporate and raise the moisture level in the air.
Last year’s flowers lasted over two months. This year’s are still going strong after a month and a half. If you’ve got a warm, sunny spot with room for a vase, you can bloom these gorgeous orchids. too.
Orchid lovers in the San Francisco Bay Area can take advantage of two local online sales. In addition, Hengduan Biotech in China is having an online sale that will ship most anywhere in the world.
Ongoing until January 29
The University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley is renovating its Tropical House, and selling divisions and extra plants to make room. There are lots of orchids among the exotic plants for sale. You must pick up your purchase in Berkeley on Saturday, January 30th.
Ongoing until February 6
The Peninsula Orchid Society Winter Sale and Poster Auction offers Cattleyas, Cymbidiums, Masdevallias, and much more. You must pick up your purchase on Saturday, February 6th in Half Moon Bay, California, south of San Francisco.
Ongoing until February 20
China’s highly-regarded Hengduan Mountains Biotechnology is offering an extensive list of orchid species and hybrids to be delivered in March 2021. They specialize in Lady Slippers and Chinese orchids, but have much, much more. The company ships overseas following CITES and phytosanitary regulations.
For over 30 years, I’ve been living and gardening in California, and I’ve certainly become spoiled by the fact that we can garden year-round here. But I did grow up in New Jersey, and went to college in upstate New York, so I also remember ice cold winters when nothing was growing. Outdoors was mostly brown and gray, or a white blanket of snow. How fortunate I am to be able to enjoy this mild climate instead. In the middle of January, we’re reveling in blooms on a Masdevallia, Epidendrum, Cymbidiums, Giant Hyacinth Orchid, and Laelia.
Of course, we have more than orchids in the garden. The row of photos below shows Fivespots, Nemophila maculata, a California native annual. It’s been a few years since I’ve grown them. On the coast they’re easy to start from seed. The flowers are simple but striking, and boast deep purple spots. I don’t know why some of the blooms have six spots instead of five, but I suppose they can’t count. If you’re enduring a harsh winter, enjoy our winter garden, and take these flowers as a sign of better things to come.
Malaysian researchers are exposing the illegal plant trade on social media. Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Myanmar have thousands of native orchid species, many sought out by collectors. There has always been an orchid trade, but online sellers have a wider reach than ever before. Sites like Facebook and eBay are too vast to monitor, and take little action to block illegal sales. This has led to a rapid decline in biodiversity, as plants are irresponsibly stripped from the wild and sold to ignorant or unscrupulous buyers.
To counter the trend, Malaysian orchid lovers have created a new book, Orchids of Penang Hill. Their goal is to inspire locals to protect the area. They’ve also applied for the Penang Hill nature park to be a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Across Southeast Asia, orchids are best protected in national or state parks. The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society has been working with Myanmar’s Forest Department to help save wild plants from the human malady of orchid fever.
The Streaked Rock Orchid is a wonderful Australian native. Its strange flowers resemble elaborate birds in flight. Its little, pencil-like leaves turn purplish-red in the sun, making it look like a pointy, colorful hedgehog. In the wild, Dendrobium striolatum lives attached to rocky cliffs in the states of New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania. Our orchid is happily growing outdoors on the Northern California coast.
This plant stubbornly refused to flower for the first six years I had it, but has since become a very reliable bloomer. It responds well to doses of compost or worm castings, and receives regular water, good humidity, and strong air movement. Full sun turns its thin leaves a deep purplish-red, ensuring that it’s always a colorful garden denizen, even when not in bloom. This species doesn’t seem to need repotting like most orchids. I rarely repot it unless its unruly mass overflows the flowerpot. In the wild, it’s a lithophyte, growing with its roots clinging to rocks. The species’ name was changed from Dockrillia striolata to Dendrobium striolatum. Fortunately, the common name, Streaked Rock Orchid, remains the same.
Happy new year! Kudos to New Zealand for smartly managing the pandemic. That’s why I’m listing their show. Please check directly with the phone number on their webpage for the latest updates. I’ve found links for a few other events this month, but they don’t have clear COVID19 precautions, and they’re in areas that don’t have the virus under control, so I’m not listing them.
January 8 – 10
Taranaki Orchid Society 50th Anniversary Show, Highlands School Hall, Coronation Ave., New Plymouth, New Zealand
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but the discovery of the ugliest orchid in the world has been big news. The newly identified Madagascan Gastrodia agnicellus has small, brown blooms that look like little pieces of rotting fruit. Like other members of the Gastrodia genus, this species is leafless, and takes its energy from fungi in the forest floor. With their fleshy roots, they’ve earned the nickname “Potato Orchids.”
This homely orchid has received considerably more media attention than many plant discoveries, but the stories failed to report that it was found during a tour sponsored by the Orchid Conservation Alliance (OCA.) The OCA is a wonderful conservation group that deserves your support. Their trips to orchid hot spots like Madagascar have been an important source of their income, but COVID19 has forced them to postpone tours and forego those funds. You can help the OCA by making a donation or becoming a member.
This year’s winter solstice arrives with darkness, cold, and a raging pandemic. I’m certainly ready to be rid of all three. The days will start lengthening tomorrow; if only there were such definite dates for the pandemic. Fortunately, vaccinations are starting. However many months we need to wait for ours, we will gladly get them when they’re available. In the meantime, these magical orchids are a great remedy for the winter blues. Most of these photos are from Dave’s trip to Singapore last year, when he saw Singapore’s National Orchid Garden and HortPark. The final three pictures are from our own California garden. Happy solstice and happy holidays, too.
The orchid-laden nation of Colombia has suffered a violent past. Colombian scientist Tatiana Arias hopes to use the country’s orchids to help keep the peace. In the last few years, a fragile peace treaty has ended six decades of violence between drug cartels and the government. Now, many rural areas need a reliable source of income. With over 4200 native orchid species, more than any other country, Colombians are rightly proud of their floral heritage. In fact, the national flower is Cattleya trianae. Arias, who earned her doctorate at the University of Missouri, wants to catalog and cultivate orchids to improve peoples’ lives. By turning to ecotourism and horticulture, she hopes to offer a stable economic future. It’s a massive endeavor, and will take years of work by her and many other scientists. Arias has support from the Colombian Orchid Society, and is making progress towards her grand goals.
