AboutOrchids

With warm days lately, we’re enjoying lots of flowers. Orchids and other greenery keep our front and back yards full of color and buzzing with local wildlife. Cymbidiums, Epidendrums, and Masdevallias are such reliable bloomers here that they rarely take a break. Poppies, nasturtiums, and bromeliads add to the show. Even though we don’t have a lot of garden space, the wide variety of plants brings in a range of visitors. All manner of birds and bugs arrive daily, including hummingbirds, honeybees, and butterflies.

From Honolulu to Helsinki, from Louisville to Lima, orchid lovers gather to discuss, photograph, judge, and buy orchids. Don’t miss these great events around the globe.

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Some readers may wonder why I’m posting a reminder about heatwaves at the start of autumn, but SF Bay Area locals understand. For us, the warmest months of the year are September and October. True to form, our cool, foggy weather gave way to warmer temps on schedule this year, and we’ve had a few heatwaves. Our humidity drops as the heat rises, leaving us with desert-like dryness. That dry air presents as much danger to orchids as the high heat itself, so both problems need to be addressed. Follow these tips to help your orchids survive a heatwave:

• Move plants into shady areas until the fog returns.
• Water all orchids on warm days, even if it’s not their regular watering day. For my cool growers and intermediate growers outside, I water them all daily if temps rise above 80°F (27°C,) sometimes multiple times on hotter days.
• To raise humidity levels, spray down leaves, walls, patios, decks, flowerpots, and other surfaces. As it evaporates, the water adds moisture to the air. Remember, high humidity for leaves, flowers, and exposed roots is what’s important. Avoid oversoaking the potting material.
• Other methods to raise humidity include grouping plants together, or placing plants in humid areas near a water feature. Using a spray mister helps. Placing flowerpots atop pebbles in trays of water is effective, as long as the bottoms of the pots are always kept above the water level.
• Don’t remove sunburned leaves until cooler weather returns. Those burnt leaves are protecting lower leaves. Check the photos below for examples of sunburned orchids leaves. Burns usually start out as white patches, but then turn brown or black over time. Now get to watering!

Delight in these orchids to mark today’s equinox. They’re all from this past July’s Orchids in the Park. With an incredible range of colors, shapes, and scents, they seem as distantly related as an oak tree is from an oyster.  But superficial appearances are so often misleading. These orchids share a basic design which runs much deeper than their various facades. With the arrival of autumn in California, the diverse orchid family blooms on.

Chinese scientists have studied an orchid’s genetics to learn the secrets of its success. They’ve sequenced the genes of the species Apostasia shenzhenica, which is an early offshoot of the orchid family tree. Their study shows that important orchid traits, like massed pollen, tiny seeds, and the ability to live as air plants, emerged at the beginning of their evolution. These features help orchids survive in almost every corner of the planet. Find the scientific paper at Nature.

Every three years, orchid lovers from around the world gather for an event nicknamed the Orchid Olympics. Officially known as the 22nd World Orchid Conference, this year’s event is happening in Guayaquil, Ecuador from November 8th – 12th. The conference includes science, horticulture, and conservation sessions, as well as an enormous orchid show with vendors from around the globe. Check out the video below for more info —

These photos highlight just a few of the orchids on display at San Francisco’s Conservatory of Flowers. Their extraordinary collection spans the vast range of the orchid world. Big and small, hybrid and species, common and rare — they’re all well represented.

One of the benefits of air plants like these is that they live in different levels of the glasshouses, and visitors are not simply looking down at the ground to see flowers. Some are at eye level; others are high over our heads. As Dave and I pointed our cameras up into the trees, it was a delight to see other visitors look up and suddenly realize that there were orchids above them. Like the rainforests they’re modeled after, the Conservatory is a prime example of vertical gardens. Be sure to check out what’s in bloom the next time you’re in Golden Gate Park.

Enjoy this adorable animation explaining how deceptive orchids can be. Some orchids trick pollinators, steal from fungi, or take advantage of trees to grow above the forest floor. And they’ve convinced lots of humans to do their bidding, too. The video below comes courtesy of the University of Western Australia and Curtin University.

Each month, I try my best to track down all the orchid shows I can in the English-speaking world, and also events in other languages I can handle. As many as I’ve found for this busy September, there are certainly more shows than this. So, if somehow you can’t find an event near you in this list, check with your local orchid society to find more.

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Surely, we’re spoiled for orchids around here. Only a few weeks after Orchids in the Park, Dave and I headed over to Golden Gate Park again. This time, we went to the historic Conservatory of Flowers, and found lots of orchids and other stunning blooms.  Here are a few of the sights —

The Conservatory consists of five separate rooms, each with a different climate zone. When we visited, the blooms included a brilliantly hued vireya rhododendron, and a dazzlingly variegated hibiscus. Plants with colorful foliage added even more to the tapestry. Orchids were well represented in the Aquatic Plants, Highland Tropics, Lowland Tropics, and Potted Plants galleries. Many of their beautifully grown orchids are rare species, so it’s a pleasure to see them thriving.

As usual, I’ve got plenty of pictures, so check back soon for more. For anybody in the San Francisco Bay Area, resident or visitor, don’t miss the amazing botanical gems at the Conservatory of Flowers. And check out the flower power of the Conservatory’s popular, nightly light show, which runs until October 21st.