AboutOrchids

I’ve already sung the praises of Honolulu’s Foster Botanical Garden on this blog. In addition to posts about Foster’s orchids, including the biggest orchid in the world, and giant Grammatophyllums, here’s another post with more of Dave’s great photos. For readers who are already feeling winter’s chill, I hope these tropical beauties in sunny Hawaii will inspire warm thoughts.

These warm growing orchids come in a huge variety of bright colors and fantastic shapes. Many have sweet scents, but unfortunately, no photo can convey those.

Whether it’s Leopard Orchids with spots like a jungle cat, or Philippine Ground Orchids with vibrant hues, these floral jewels are the embodiment of tropical beauty. It’s always worth a visit to Foster Botanical Garden, even if it’s only a virtual one.

Dracula orchids may have a haunting side, but these fascinating Masdevallia relatives need your help. Newly discovered Dracula species in Ecuador are threatened by deforestation. Conservation groups are attempting to create a new nature sanctuary in northwestern Ecuador, to be named the Dracula Orchid Reserve. Rainforest Trust and Fundación EcoMinga want to save part of the Chocó region, whose coastal rainforest is considered to be one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. “The Chocó is the richest area,” said Rainforest Trust CEO Paul Salaman. “It’s possible that this small reserve of just 650 acres [263 hectares] could hold five percent of all the orchids on Earth.” Many other rare plants, birds, and endangered creatures like the Spectacled Bear also make their homes in this incredible jungle.

You can help Rainforest Trust with donations, which are tax deductible as allowed by law. They even accept Bitcoin donations. Read more about the proposed Dracula Orchid Reserve at the Epoch Times.

Orchid shows abound in every corner of the planet. All of these events offer great opportunities to enjoy wonderful blooms, take pictures, talk to experts, and buy plants for your orchid collection.

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Boo! There are orchids for every occasion, even Halloween. Here are some spooky orchids to haunt you, if you’re not too scared to go further…

Ghost Orchids (first photo) —
The famous stars of The Orchid Thief earn a phantasmic name from their weird white blooms. Since these strange plants are leafless, the flowers seem to emerge from nowhere, and hover in the air like bizarre, ghostly apparitions.

Dracula Orchids (second photo) —
These orchids hang upside down like bats, wear monkey masks, and smell like musty fungus. In the photo below, the black flower of Dracula vampira leaves a biting impression.

Spider Orchids (third photo) —
Spider Orchids, or Brassias, don’t have eight legs, but their long petals help make them great arachnid mimics. They’re good enough to convince spider-hunting wasps to attack. It’s a freaky, sneaky way of tricking the wasps into pollinating them.

Bulbophyllums (fourth and fifth photos) —
Some Bulbophyllum flowers stink like rotting meat. Others foul the air with a scent which smells like something you scraped off the bottom of your shoe. They’re beautiful blooms with foul fragrances.

Laelia anceps (sixth photo) —
This native Mexican species traditionally decorates graves on the Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos. Would you like these haunting orchids on your tombstone?

Find more spooky orchids at Smithsonian Gardens. Happy Halloween!

Would you visit a garden in a volcanic crater?  We did!  Koko Crater Botanical Garden in Honolulu is a remarkable desert paradise. It sits in an extinct volcanic crater on the southeast corner of Oahu, near its larger, more famous neighbor, Diamond Head. It’s too dry for orchids at Koko, but there’s plenty of tropical desert beauty. These tough plants feature architectural shapes, brilliant flower colors, and pointed defenses. A few spiky cactus photos start this Koko tour.

This blooming crater is part of Honolulu Botanical Gardens. It’s a public park with free admission, open daily from sunrise to sunset. Visitors can hike a 2 mile (3.2 km) loop trail through 60 acres (24 hectares) of desert plants (bring water for the walk!) The hot, dry regions of Africa, Madagascar, the Americas, and, of course, Hawaii are featured in different sections. Other collections include Koko’s huge plumeria trees, which sport more colors of of these flowers than I’ve ever seen.

Many of the garden’s plants are rare and facing extinction, like two endangered Hawaiian species in the next row of photos: a red hibiscus from Kauai, and a fascinating wiliwili tree in bloom. The endangered Dragon’s Blood Tree in the third photo is native to a few islands in the Indian Ocean.

Koko is a great showcase for interesting, low-water garden options. Of course, many of these tough desert plants need more sun and warmer temps than we can provide on the Northern California coast, but others are hardy enough to survive outside the tropics. There are always lots of gardening options, even in California’s current drought emergency. Just look to Koko Crater Botanical Garden for inspiration.

A newly discovered Dendrobium species has been named to honor Jane Goodall. In recognition of her extraordinary contributions to nature conservation and animal welfare, Dutch scientists dubbed the new orchid Dendrobium goodallianum. The new species is native to New Guinea. Its flowers last only one day, and they smell like coconut.

New orchid species are discovered often, and the discoverer gets naming rights. This isn’t the first time Dame Goodall has been honored with an orchid. In 2004, a Spathoglottis hybrid was named in her honor as Spathoglottis Jane Goodall. She is a leading naturalist, author, and the world’s top expert on chimpanzees. In her new book, Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants, Goodall explores the glories of plants, and explains why healthy trees and plants are essential for the planet’s health.

Grammatophyllum orchids make a big impression. These large beauties are native to hot, steamy jungles in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Dave and I have seen them in Hawaii before, but never in bloom until our recent visit to Foster Botanical Garden in Honolulu. We not saw only one, but three different Grammatophyllum varieties flowering at Foster. I’ve already blogged about the first one, the Tiger Orchid, which is the largest orchid in the world. Here are the other two we saw — not as big, but no less splendid in their tropical grandeur. The first one is the Leopard Orchid, Grammatophyllum scriptum, named for its spotted flowers.

Leopard Orchids are smaller than their Tiger Orchid relatives, but they can still take lots of space, especially with their tall flower spikes. The photos for the second variety below show the same species as above, but this cultivar has greenish yellow blossoms instead. If you look closely, you can see the faint outlines of the leopard spot patterns. For good measure, there’s one more photo of the Tiger Orchid at the end, so all three types are in the same post.

To grow Grammatophyllums, give them lots of full sun, warm temps, regular waterings, regular fertilizer, and high humidity. Besides being known for the size, Grammatophyllums are also known for their stubbornness. Most bloom only once every two or three years. So, if you have lots of space and patience, Grammatophyllums may be the orchids for you.

From Fresno to Florida, and Prague to Tasmania, these shows demonstrate orchids’ global appeal. The world’s largest, most diverse flower family awaits visitors at every event.

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In the verdant Manoa Valley above Honolulu, Lyon Arboretum boasts a rainforest full of botanical treasures. Over 5000 plant varieties fill almost 200 acres (81 hectares) of jungle. There aren’t many orchids, but there are many other incredible tropical flowers and gorgeous views.

Almost a century ago, the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association set this land aside to protect the watershed for growing sugarcane. Now, Lyon Arboretum is run by the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, and shines as a world leader in tropical plant conservation. For visitors, there are over 7 miles (11 km) of hiking trails, which weave through different gardens, and up to a small waterfall. The grounds include a native Hawaiian garden, herb & spice garden, bromeliad garden, children’s garden, a palm garden with one of the largest collections in the world, and much more. With so many exotic plants, it’s jammed-packed with tropical beauty, especially when some leaves are colorful enough to compete with flowers.

We found some orchids mounted on trees and branches, like the vanilla orchid vine climbing up a tree trunk in the next photo. Unfortunately, none of the orchids were in bloom, but there was much more to capture our attention in the jungle trails. Besides the trees, plants, and birds, mosquitoes were another reminder of our rainforest location, and unfortunately we forgot to bring the bug spray. We got lots of itchy bites, so remember yours if you visit. We noticed that some locals hiking the trails were wearing long sleeves and long pants, which is a good alternative if you’re not fond of pesticides.

In case these photos aren’t enough to convince you to visit Lyon Arboretum, I’ll have more pictures coming soon. Check out the Friends of Lyon Arboretum to help support the gardens and keep them thriving.

Welcome today’s change of seasons with the Tiger Orchid, the biggest orchid in the world! Dave and I spotted this jumbo beauty during our recent visit to Foster Botanical Garden in Honolulu. This was the first time we’ve ever seen one in bloom. The Tiger Orchid’s Latin name, Grammatophyllum speciosum, seems to fit this large plant.

These giants are native to rainforests from Thailand and Myanmar through Southeast Asia to Malaysia, Singapore, New Guinea, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Believe it or not, they’re air plants, although they can grow larger than a ton. This specimen at Foster wasn’t a ton, but we estimated it was about 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, 8 feet (2.4 m) across, and very heavy. It held hundreds of flowers, each about 4 inches (10 cm.)

Grammatophyllums are Cymbidium relatives. They need warm temps, lots of full sun, and regular water. In Hawaii, we’ve seen them growing in large, specially constructed, wooden baskets. Sometimes they’re set on elevated platforms made of wood, stone, or brick.

This plant had purplish brown spots on a white background, but most of this species’ photos and descriptions depict spots on a golden yellow background. Those colors inspire the common name Tiger Orchid. To learn more about the biggest orchid in the world, check out the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s story and photos about repotting their 300 pound (136 kg) Tiger Orchid.