AboutOrchids

Legendary American artist Georgia O’Keeffe painted extraordinary flowers, including orchids. The Winston-Salem Journal analyzes two of her portrayals of Cattleya hybrids. The first, Narcissa’s Last Orchid, 1940,  is depicted realistically. The second, An Orchid, 1941, is more abstract. Both paintings focus on the frilly flower lips. Orchid expert Arthur Chadwick ponders which varieties inspired these works. At the time, Cattleyas were popular as corsages. To learn more, check out the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.

Celebrate today’s solstice with more photos from my recent visit to Kew Gardens in London. These pictures are all from the Princess of Wales Conservatory, which is one of several large glasshouses at Kew. They include a few orchids, some brilliantly colorful bromeliads, and other tropical plants.

The conservatory features separate tropical and temperate zones for rainforest plants, ferns, desert plants, carnivorous plants, and, of course, orchids. It boasts incredible displays at any time of year, and offers a wonderfully warm respite from winter’s chill at this time of year.

The UK’s oldest botanical garden has plenty for orchid lovers to enjoy. Oxford Botanic Garden & Arboretum dates to 1621, making it older than London’s Chelsea Physic Garden (founded 1673) and Kew Gardens (founded 1759.) Oxford’s garden covers 4.5 acres (1.8 hectares,) and grows over 6000 different plant species.

The garden includes seven adjacent glasshouses with different growing conditions. Several of the greenhouses contain orchids, including the Fernery, Tropical Lily House, Palm House, and Insectivorous House. All of them are packed with fascinating plants. The flowers in this post are all orchids, except for the colorful bromeliads at the end of the second row of photos.

Oxford Botanic Garden is part of the University of Oxford, one of the oldest universities in the world, founded over 900 years ago. It was a famous institution long before scenes from the Harry Potter films were shot there, lending its Gothic spires and medieval architecture to Hogwarts. The botanic garden inspired parts of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and also JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings stories. Oxford is an easy train ride from London, making it an ideal day trip.

In London’s December chill, it’s great to warm up by stepping into one of the glasshouses at Kew Gardens. I was fortunate to visit last week, and enjoyed lots of warmth and tropical beauty. These photos show some of the orchids on display in the Princess of Wales Conservatory.

The vast orchid family reliably offers blooms at any time of year, even early December. In fact, many orchid varieties flower during dormant periods. This usually corresponds to winter months, when their blooms are less likely to be damaged by heavy rains, which are typical of their growing seasons. With one of the most extensive botanical collections on the planet, the expert growers at Kew can put on impressive orchid displays all year long. If you’re anywhere near London, beat back the winter blues with a visit. It warms me up just thinking about it.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports on saving the Sunshine Diuris, a rare and delicious Australian orchid species. Diuris fragrantissima is also known as Snow in the Paddocks. Once common in grasslands around Melbourne, this species’ tubers were a favorite food source for Aboriginal peoples. It was so plentiful that European settlers picked its flowers by the armfuls for its sweet fragrance. But then habitat destruction, urbanization, and livestock grazing reduced its vast populations, until it was feared to be extinct. Fortunately a small patch survived, and was fenced off for protection. Now, scientists are using lab-grown plants to reestablish wild populations. Ecologist John Bradford, who is one of the people working to save the Sunshine Diuris, says that the orchid is a link with past landscapes and past peoples. “It’s a link, too, with the people who have cared for this place over the past 60 years. We pushed back against a billion-dollar project. Some things are more important than money.”

This is always the slowest month of the year for orchid events, but you can still find activities on several continents listed below. Many orchid societies have holiday parties and auctions, so check with your local group for more.

One post from Singapore’s National Orchid Garden certainly wasn’t enough, and here are more photos to prove it. With so many brilliant, tropical varieties growing outdoors in the sunshine, Dave took lots of amazing pictures. Colorful Vandas, Dendrobiums, Cattleyas, and Renantheras all competed for his attention.

The blooms include many historic hybrids. Some have won awards and become important in the cut-flower trade. Others have been named for world leaders and celebrities. These human-made crosses have helped Singapore create a successful orchid industry. The plants continue to be used to parent new hybrids, with the most exceptional results brought to the public. Singapore’s clear mastery of the art and science of orchids shines at the National Orchid Garden.

Orchids are all over the place in Singapore. The National Orchid Garden, Singapore Botanic Gardens, Cloud Forest Conservatory, Flower Dome Conservatory, and Supertrees are packed with them. Dave even found orchids when he wasn’t expecting them, like at HortPark, one of Singapore’s lesser known green spaces. It’s two blocks from the office where he was working, and he stumbled on it near his subway stop. With Vandas, Moth Orchids, Dendrobiums, Bamboo Orchids, and more, it’s home to lots of stunning tropical beauties growing outdoors.

The 24.7 acre (10 hectare) HortPark has more than orchids. The last five photos in this post show some other plants on display, like a snow-white hibiscus, black bamboo, and a colorful heliconia. HortPark has native plants, theme gardens, children’s gardens, and more. All are organized to encourage gardening, and to teach good planting practices. Admission to the park is free. It’s probably not on many tourist maps, but Singapore’s HortPark is a great orchid destination.

Tune in to In Defense of Plants for an orchid conservation success story. Lou Jost has worked to protect cloud forests in orchid-rich Ecuador for decades, and has helped to create seven nature reserves. The reserves are essential habitats for many endangered plants and animals, including fascinating pleurothallid orchids, like Masdevallias, Draculas, and Stelis. If you’re inspired to help his efforts, you can donate to the Orchid Conservation Alliance and Fundación EcoMinga. Funds are needed for daily operations, maintenance, security, and to buy more land for reserves.

The island nation of Singapore has a grove of trees unlike any others in the world, the Supertrees. These tall, human-made structures are covered with air plants, or epiphytes, like orchids, bromeliads, and ferns. They’re superb examples of how to incorporate orchids into vertical gardens. Planting beds around the bases of the Supertrees also feature lots of orchids, including some impressively large specimens.

Varieties on display include tropical beauties like Vandas, Renantheras, Cattleyas, Grammatophyllums, Dendrobiums, and even Vanilla vines. The Supertrees range in height from 82 ft. (25 m) to 164 ft. (50 m.) There are 18 of them within the Gardens by the Bay nature park, each covered with thousands of plants around concrete and steel cores. In addition to their green space, the Supertrees provide shade, hold solar cells to run their lights, collect rainwater, and serve as air intake and exhaust systems for the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest conservatories. A raised pedestrian path connects them and offers panoramic views. The colorful displays continue at night with brilliant light shows. Don’t miss these unique, orchid-laden trees if you’re in Singapore.