AboutOrchids

As we continue to shelter at home, it really helps to be surrounded by our indoor orchids. A few of my plants have been putting on great spring shows. The Mexicoa species in the first row of photos above has already been blooming for two months. Now, it’s put out five new spikes of brilliant yellow flowers. They have a great lemony scent.

The Coconut Orchid, in the row of photos above, smells like coconut cream pie. I’ve had this same plant since 2003. This year, it’s sporting dozens of flowers. It’s a delightfully easy grower and reliable bloomer.

The Leptotes species in the third row of photos is not like the other orchids in this post. It’s a mini, it’s not fragrant, and it needs warmer temps than the rest, which are intermediate growers. I just bought it in bud at the recent Pacific Orchid Expo, and kept it happy enough that it bloomed a couple weeks later.

In the final row of photos, this aptly named Spider Orchid is a prolific bloomer. These big flowers, as tall as 15 inches (38 cm,) have a spicy fragrance. This hybrid was a great buy at a local grocery store a few years ago. It puts out enormous, long-lasting blossoms twice a year. They’re truly a joy.

The IUCN Orchid Specialist Group reports on the history, cultural importance, and trade of China’s Cymbidiums. Recent studies focus on Sichuan Province in southwest China, one of the world’s botanical hotspots. It’s home to many orchids, including Cymbidiums. They’ve been important in Chinese culture for thousands of years, and ornamental varieties have been cultivated for a millenium. They were once so common in Sichuan that their sweet fragrances filled the mountain air. However, over the last few decades, increased harvesting of wild plants has threatened them with extinction. Fortunately, many buyers are turning to orchids grown in greenhouses rather than wild plants. It is hoped that China’s traditional reverence for Cymbidiums will help save these endangered species.

Today is a spring equinox like no other. In the San Francisco Bay Area, we have been sheltering at home for several days now as COVID-19 spreads. Dave and I are fine, and our two cats are getting spoiled since we’re home most of the time. Only essential businesses are still open. Roads that are typically jammed with traffic are eerily empty. Despite some over-hyped news stories, most people are following necessary restrictions. It reminds me of when I was here for the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, not only because it’s upended our lives, but also because it’s brought out the best caring instincts in a lot of people.

This year, I have little excuse for my usual repotting procrastination. Spring is the best repotting time for most orchids, and I usually manage to get many, but not all, of mine done. Maybe I can also really tackle that persistent scale infestation on some of my indoor plants. For a while, I’ve managed it with mild insecticides, but I’m never been diligent enough to repeat every week to completely eliminate the pests. If you’re looking to fill your time while sheltering at home, check out the American Orchid Society’s tips for March and April orchid care. And enjoy these photos from our recent Pacific Orchid Expo to celebrate the equinox.

The California coast is already a beautiful place, and Cymbidium orchids make it even better. Since we moved to Pacifica several years ago, we’ve acquired more of them. Dave occasionally brings a nice one home from the grocery store. Usually they bloom in different seasons, but this year they all decided to flower over the winter. For a little while, I had 10 plants in bloom at once.

Cymbidiums are great outdoor orchids for the San Francisco Bay Area. Many of our neighbors keep them in their gardens. Some hybrids may bloom more than once annually. Warmer growing varieties are available for those who don’t enjoy our cool nighttime temps, which they need to flower.

The final row of photos below features my favorite new Cymbidium. This is Cymbidium tracyanum, a species native to mountains in China, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar. I received divisions from a friend last year when I helped her repot a large, old plant. I didn’t expect it to bloom so soon, but it’s gracing us with three spikes full of spectacular, fragrant, 5-inch (12.7 cm) wide flowers. It’s a superb harbinger of spring.

New Zealand’s tiny Ghost Orchid isn’t easy to find. (Even though it shares a common name, it’s different from Florida’s famous Ghost Orchid of The Orchid Thief fame.) The New Zealand species is the only member of the Corybas genus that has stopped using photosynthesis. Instead, it lives off nutrients from fungi. Without chlorophyll, it’s not green, but brown. Botanist Carlos Lehnebach spent ten years searching before he found one. Now that he’s spotted it near Wellington, he’s hoping to understand the genetic changes which let it stop harnessing the sun’s energy. After all this time, Lehnebach still isn’t sure how rare it is. “It’s so difficult to find, it could be that the hills where I’ve been looking are full of it.”

San Francisco’s annual Pacific Orchid Expo is full of botanical riches. There are plenty of novel hybrids, extraordinary species, and awards for the best among them. It’s the cream of the crop.

Add in more colors than any rainbow, and some rich perfumes, and it’s easy to see why orchid lovers are so hooked. It’s a shame that the Pacific Orchid Expo only comes around once a year.

You can now buy first-class orchids at the post office. The US Postal Service has just released 10 new stamps featuring wild orchids. All the species represented are native to the USA. My photos show both sides of a 20-stamp booklet and the cover image.

There are nine orchid species depicted.

• Three Birds Orchid, Triphora trianthophoros (shown in two images)
• California Lady’s Slipper, Cypripedium californicum
• Crested Coralroot Orchid, Hexalectris spicata
• Showy Lady’s Slipper, Cypripedium reginae
• Marsh Lady’s Tresses, Spiranthes odorata
• Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid, Platanthera leucophaea
• Greater Purple Fringed Orchid, Platanthera grandiflora
• Yellow Cowhorn Orchid, Cyrtopodium polyphyllum
• Tuberous Grass Pink, Calopogon tuberosus

The first day of issue ceremony was held at the American Orchid Society Library at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, Florida on February 21st. When I bought stamps a few days later, they were obviously very popular, because our local post office was running low on them. Buy your orchids at the post office while supplies last.

As I was preparing March’s list, some events in East Asia were being cancelled over fears about coronavirus. Most significantly, the World Orchid Conference in Taiwan has been postponed. Around the world, dozens of other events this month are continuing, as of this writing.

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The San Francisco Orchid Society puts on fantastic shows. This past weekend’s Pacific Orchid Expo was another great success, full of astounding blooms and friendly orchid lovers. It was also full of gasps of amazement as visitors saw how much more there is to the orchid world than standard grocery store varieties.

I came home with three plants and a book about Vandas. One of my orchid purchases was a red variety of Masdevallia coccinea, to add to the hot pink and sunny yellow cultivars of that species which bloom so well for me. It’s a small plant, so it may be a few years before it flowers. In the meantime, I certainly have many pictures from this year’s show to share. Check back here soon for more.

In the vast orchid family full of weird plants, Rhizanthellas stand out as among the weirdest. These Australian natives live their whole lives underground, and feed off fungi rather than photosynthesize. Their flowers occasionally break the surface, but usually out of sight in the dirt or leaf litter, so they’re really hard to find. But Missy the detection dog has a nose for these bizarre plants. In Barrington Tops National Park north of Sydney, Missy can sniff out the rare orchids in a few minutes, compared to humans who take 10 days to find them. Conservation groups hope that trained dogs will help them better understand and protect these fascinating orchids.