{"id":36764,"date":"2020-11-29T20:25:21","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T04:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/?p=36764"},"modified":"2020-12-05T21:01:16","modified_gmt":"2020-12-06T05:01:16","slug":"a-beautiful-laelia-orchid-species","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/2020\/11\/29\/a-beautiful-laelia-orchid-species\/","title":{"rendered":"A Beautiful Laelia Orchid Species"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_1_800px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-36784 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_1_800px-96x128.jpg\" alt=\"Laelia gouldiana, orchid species flower, Mexican native orchid, purple flower, grown outdoors in Pacifica, California\" width=\"96\" height=\"128\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_1_800px-96x128.jpg 96w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_1_800px-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_1_800px.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 96px) 100vw, 96px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_2_800px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-36785 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_2_800px-96x128.jpg\" alt=\"Laelia gouldiana, orchid species flowers, Mexican native orchid, purple flowers, grown outdoors in Pacifica, California\" width=\"96\" height=\"128\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_2_800px-96x128.jpg 96w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_2_800px-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_2_800px.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 96px) 100vw, 96px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_10_800px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-36793 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_10_800px-128x96.jpg\" alt=\"Laelia gouldiana, orchid species flower, Mexican native orchid, purple flower, grown outdoors in Pacifica, California\" width=\"128\" height=\"96\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_10_800px-128x96.jpg 128w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_10_800px-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_10_800px-768x576.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_10_800px.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 128px) 100vw, 128px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I love this gorgeous Mexican species,<em> Laelia gouldiana<\/em>, but our garden <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/problems\/index.html\">pests<\/a> annoyingly love it, too. The first row of photos above shows happy, uneaten flowers from recent years. In contrast, the three rows of photos below show damaged flowers, the worst from this year, and some milder damage in 2016 and 2018. Whatever chomped through this year&#8217;s blooms did so while they were still buds, so they opened looking like Swiss cheese.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_4_800px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-36787 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_4_800px-128x128.jpg\" alt=\"Laelia gouldiana, damaged orchid species flower, bug-eaten flower, Mexican native orchid, purple flower, grown outdoors in Pacifica, California\" width=\"128\" height=\"128\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_4_800px-128x128.jpg 128w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_4_800px-300x300.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_4_800px-768x768.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_4_800px.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 128px) 100vw, 128px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_7_800px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-36790 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_7_800px-128x96.jpg\" alt=\"Laelia gouldiana, damaged orchid species flowers, bug-eaten flowers, Mexican native orchid, purple flowers, grown outdoors in Pacifica, California\" width=\"128\" height=\"96\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_7_800px-128x96.jpg 128w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_7_800px-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_7_800px-768x576.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_7_800px.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 128px) 100vw, 128px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_6_800px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-36789 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_6_800px-96x128.jpg\" alt=\"Laelia gouldiana, damaged orchid species flower, bug-eaten flower, Mexican native orchid, purple flower, grown outdoors in Pacifica, California\" width=\"96\" height=\"128\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_6_800px-96x128.jpg 96w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_6_800px-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_6_800px.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 96px) 100vw, 96px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_bud_800px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-36795 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_bud_800px-128x96.jpg\" alt=\"Laelia gouldiana, damaged orchid species flower bud, bug-eaten flower bud, Mexican native orchid, purple flower bud, grown outdoors in Pacifica, California\" width=\"128\" height=\"96\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_bud_800px-128x96.jpg 128w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_bud_800px-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_bud_800px-768x576.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_bud_800px.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 128px) 100vw, 128px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_5_800px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-36788 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_5_800px-128x96.jpg\" alt=\"Laelia gouldiana, damaged orchid species flower, bug-eaten flower, Mexican native orchid, purple flower, grown outdoors in Pacifica, California\" width=\"128\" height=\"96\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_5_800px-128x96.jpg 128w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_5_800px-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_5_800px-768x576.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_5_800px.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 128px) 100vw, 128px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_9_800px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-36792 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_9_800px-96x128.jpg\" alt=\"Laelia gouldiana, damaged orchid species flower, bug-eaten flower, close up of flower lip, Mexican native orchid, purple flower, grown outdoors in Pacifica, California\" width=\"96\" height=\"128\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_9_800px-96x128.jpg 96w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_9_800px-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_9_800px.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 96px) 100vw, 96px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Generally, my natural pest remedies are remarkably effective at limiting damage. Our garden is a healthy ecosystem full of birds, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/2010\/06\/15\/beneficial-insects\/\">spiders<\/a>, raccoons, lizards, and other predators. I use non-toxic chemicals when necessary. However, these flowers seem to get munched more than most. This year, the bugs, or slugs, really did a number on them.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Laelia_gouldiana\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">This species is native to the Mexican state of Hidalgo, but sadly is extinct in the wild.<\/a> Fortunately it survives in cultivation. It&#8217;s considered as easy to grow as its close relative <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/2009\/05\/12\/laelia-anceps\/\"><em>Laelia anceps<\/em><\/a>. This <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/category\/cool-growers\/\">cool grower <\/a>can handle low <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/care\/details\/humidity.html\">humidity<\/a> better than many orchid varieties. Like other members of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/identify\/orchids\/cattleya.html\">Cattleya<\/a> family, <em>Laelia gouldiana<\/em> needs to dry out well between <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/care\/details\/water.html\">waterings<\/a>, and wants <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/2011\/03\/29\/let-the-sunshine-in\/\">morning sun<\/a> to grow well. Maybe someday I&#8217;ll learn how to keep its blooms intact.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_8_800px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-36791 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_8_800px-128x128.jpg\" alt=\"Laelia gouldiana, damaged orchid species flower, bug-eaten flower, Mexican native orchid, purple flower, grown outdoors in Pacifica, California\" width=\"128\" height=\"128\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_8_800px-128x128.jpg 128w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_8_800px-300x300.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_8_800px-768x768.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_8_800px.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 128px) 100vw, 128px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_3_800px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-36786 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_3_800px-128x128.jpg\" alt=\"Laelia gouldiana, damaged orchid species flower, bug-eaten flower, Mexican native orchid, purple flower, grown outdoors in Pacifica, California\" width=\"128\" height=\"128\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_3_800px-128x128.jpg 128w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_3_800px-300x300.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_3_800px-768x768.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_3_800px.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 128px) 100vw, 128px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_1000px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-36794 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_1000px-96x128.jpg\" alt=\"Laelia gouldiana, damaged orchid species flower, bug-eaten flower, close up of flower lip, Mexican native orchid, purple flower, grown outdoors in Pacifica, California\" width=\"96\" height=\"128\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_1000px-96x128.jpg 96w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_1000px-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Laelia_gouldiana_1000px.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 96px) 100vw, 96px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I love this gorgeous Mexican species, Laelia gouldiana, but our garden pests annoyingly love it, too. The first row of photos above shows happy, uneaten flowers from recent years. In contrast, the three rows of photos below show damaged flowers, the worst from this year, and some milder damage in 2016 and 2018. Whatever chomped [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,12,6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cool-growers","category-fragrant-orchids","category-photos","category-problems"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36764"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36842,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36764\/revisions\/36842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}