#orchids
Wild Orchids
Grow in surprising places. Apparently our local ladies’-tresses species, whichever one it is, likes the mowed areas near the bit of marsh.
This was the best, most in-focus pic I got. They don’t grow very tall and… let’s just say, various joints Do Not Like getting low enough to look through the viewfinder. So it was get the camera in more-or-less the right position, click, and hope.
Not as in-focus, but shows you the whole bloom-spike.
Okay, the orchid might not be as interesting in this one, but wow look at the spikiness of that dewberry!
…Seriously, look at that. And if you mean to pull any in your yard, get gloves on first. Those spines are sharp and thin enough to drive into your finger joints. Getting them out is… an adventure. One that may require surgery if you’re unlucky. No one needs that.
And a long shot of a full flower spike on one of the more ambitious orchids. Hee.
Note, I honestly do not know which species it is. It might be this one.
Or maybe this one. Or possibly some other I haven’t found good pics of yet. We have Pine Barrens tree frogs locally, so who knows what other critters and plants have a refuge here.
Note: When you think about characters being sent out on scavenger hunts to gather rare herbs and components, think about this. Odds are whatever it is, is in someone’s backyard. You just have to find the right one….
Not only does it stink, but part of this orchid resembles wriggling maggots. A great gift!
This specimen of Bulbophyllum phalaenopsis, charmingly nicknamed “Bucky,” once nearly shut down a @smithsoniangardens greenhouse for DAYS because of its stench.
When it was first donated to us, few people outside Asia had seen the species, though it is recorded in early writings as smelling like “a thousand dead elephants rotting in the sun.”
Bucky’s species (originally from Papua New Guinea) targets female carrion flies as pollinators, with a flower head that has a cluster of 15 to 20 meat-colored flowers covered with fleshy projections. If that weren’t enough, it evolved to have a fragrance that matches its appearance.
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Eulophia callichroma is an interesting terrestrial orchid from several African countries including Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Eulophia is one of my favorite orchid genera as many of its species break the expected norm that orchids require warm, humid, tropical sorts of places. While not the most extreme species in the genus (Eulophia petersii is noted as being the ‘desert orchid’ after all), it still does an impressive job thriving in rocky landscapes and forests in the slightly wetter end of the mediterranean climate range with a very harshly pronounced dry season. Swollen stems known as pseudobulbs store water and nutrients and will slowly shrivel through the dry season to be replenished when rain again falls. Like many other Eulophia, it requires a dry winter to bloom, and this species is noted as often blooming following a period of fire. In such dry climates it is quite natural for many native species to be adapted to and ultimately benefit from occasional fires. Unfortunately the introduction of non-native species and human intervention in the progress of wildfires often results in more severe fires which threaten not only human establishment but also surpass what fire-adapted species are able to tolerate.
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Early purple orchid surrounded by bluebells #orchids #orchid #bluebells #wildflowers #flowers
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Isn’t she beautiful??? This also seems an impressive number of flowers for a first bloom from this little orchid; can’t wait to see how glorious future years will be!
All three of my Phalaenopsis orchids are in bloom at the same time!
The veiny one is a rebloom off the original flower spike (the stem stayed green after the first flowers fell). The dark pink one is a new flower spike off my first orchid. And the white spotted one is the original spike it had when I got it.
I finally cleared off and organized my vanity counter, added a wall shelf next to it, and got all the plants organized in this area of my room. My Money Tree is positioned in the best possible place where it gives shade to the orchids (one of them randomly got sunburnt!! Owch!) But the vibes right here are soooo tropical and I love it. My Zygopetalum orchid’s flower spike died, but I already see some new growth coming in since I repotted it (I’m suuuper excited for more Zygo flowers bc they smell so good.)
((Also, the dark pink orchid opened up this morning, and I’m soooo relieved it’s not the same colour as the veiny one - when I bought the veiny one, I forgot what colour the dark one was. So now I have 3 different kinds that all match! Phew!!))
#orchid #orchids #phalaenopsis #miniphal #miniphalaenopsis #phalaenopsisorchids #pink #purple #flower #flowers #blooms #pandemicgardening #tropicalgarden #tropical #indoorgardening #indoorplants #moneytree #pachira
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I’m filling the void in my life with plants…
New orchids, adorable mini phalaenopsis, and a vERY FRAGRANT ZYGOPETALUM THAT I DIDN’T KNOW WAS GONNA BE FRAGRANT UNTIL I GOT IT (I had no idea what kind of orchid it was, I was just excited because I found a Trader Joe’s gift card in my wallet that was unused)… pLUS A VARIEGATED MINI ROSE!!!! I don’t think I’ve EVER seen a variegated rose, mini or not… even if the variegation doesn’t stay, like uh… It’s still a mini rose!! And cute as hell!!
When I was a kid I got to pick one rosebush from the nursery, so I picked a Nicole Rose which is white center with neon pink petal tips and that was the extent of colour variation I’ve seen - with just the tips a different colour. So, I’m super excited to make room for this rose indoors (I had no idea they’d actually stay mini?? According to what I saw online…)
I’m so excited tho like my room is a jungle right now, I just got my first Monstera too, and have a BOP (it’s slowly unfurling a new leaf rn!!), and 2 orchids, (nOW 4 ORCHIDS!) Plus the other big stuff I have, poinsettias, dracaenas, hibiscus. Who knew I had it in me to shake off my black thumb to keep all these plants alive and making my Room feel less like a Doom. (Well, it’s a work in progress at least… myself and my room, I mean.)
Now I just gotta keep at the organizing and cleaning my room when chronic illness and mental illness aren’t kicking my ass.
#plant #plants #indoorgardening #indoorplants #epiphyte #orchid #orchids #phalaenopsis #zygopetalum #rose #roses #miniroses #indoorroses #planthaul
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Custom pots for my two orchids!!
They’re mini Phalaenopsis orchids, I’m pretty sure I got one from Trader Joe’s and the other from Home Depot? The first one I got immediately dropped the blooms within a week of being in my hot room lol. The other stayed blooming for a while. I’m only now realising I didn’t photograph the blooms. But they’re both a very similar white and purple-pink.
Both of my orchids stopped blooming, but one still kept a green stem and is holding onto its dried blooms! The other started growing aerial roots, so I had to repot them, and wanted to make pots that would match the colour of their blooms.
Both were horribly cramped in their original pots, so I think they will enjoy not having a cache-pot prison now. (I hate cache pots so much!) The new medium is the freshened up with sphagnum moss and orchid bark layers.
My mom’s orchid in the back is a regular Phalaenopsis orchid (she doesn’t remember the colour, but it’s a few years old) and it was in desperate need of a repot. When I went to shake out the old medium, I found out it was sitting in like 1inch of water no moss, only bark. Yuck. So I freshened her up, put her in an old crock thing with an elevated cache pot (so no more sitting in water if it gets too much), got a full leaf wipe dusting-off, and currently (almost 2 weeks later), she looks AMAZING. And has THREE new flower shoots growing off the two main shoots! I can’t wait to see what colour this one will be, I wasn’t here when my mom first bought it.
#orchid #orchids #plant #plants #phalaenopsis #miniphalaenopsis #flowers #flowerpots #custom #custompots #diy #epiphyte #indoorgardening #indoorplants #pink #pinkandwhite #acrylicpaint #rustoleumlacquer
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More #kokedama fun this morning! #workshop #robincharlotte X @joabellera #succulents #orchids #comeplay #sunday #funday (at robincharlotte studio)
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This Sunday 1-4pm join me and @joabellera for a fun workshop filled with plants and macramé. robincharlotte.com/workshops for all the deets! #fun #plants #orchids #succulents #macrame #workshop #losangeles #diy #4lyfe (at robincharlotte studio)
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Late August: the daylight hours are waning but the garden is still toodling along and I’ve been swamped with a zillion projects. It has taken me nearly the entire month, but I’ve finally compiled my August list of fun and interesting links – I hope you enjoy them! At this school in Gatineau, Quebec, a boulevard of dead ash trees were transformed into art, thanks to some very talented wood…
Late August: the daylight hours are waning but the garden is still toodling along and I’ve been swamped with a zillion projects. It has taken me nearly the entire month, but I’ve finally compiled my August list of fun and interesting links – I hope you enjoy them!
Atthis school in Gatineau, Quebec, a boulevard of dead ash trees were transformed into art, thanks to some very talented wood…
Plant of the Day
Monday 16 May 2022
In the meadows at Great Dixter, Sussex, the Anacamptis morio (green-veined orchid, green-winged orchid, crake feet, fool orchid, goose and goslings) were flowering. This orchid is highly variable in flower colour and grows in short, unimproved grassland on chalky soils.
Jill Raggett
These were one of my favorites from the Santa Barbara orchid show ☺️ #plants #botany #orchidshow #orchids #santabarbara #pretty
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deep violet or blood red? sunshine or moonlight? 80s music or 90s music? orchids or dahlias? garnet or ruby? moths or butterflies? aphrodite or athena? grapefruit or pomegranate? angel’s halo or devil’s horns? sirens or banshees? lorde or florence + the machine? the birth of venus or the starry night?
ArtSnacks Challenge | February 2017
Lots of goodies in this month’s box: Pentalic Drawing Set (graphite in HB, 2B, and 6B, medium and soft charcoal, and white pastel), KRINK K-70 permanent ink marker, ZIG Clean Color FB (carmine red), and Stabilo 68 (blue and green). I really wanted to focus on the pencils, as the others had similar items in other recent boxes. Been a really long time since I used graphite and I’ve never used charcoal. This set is lovely. (Washi tape did not come with the box.)
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inktober day 14, “overgrown.” vanilla orchids are relatable x
Root beer plant (Piper auritum)
This big floppy plant is said to resemble the taste of root beer - or others say a more anise/clover concoction. Nonetheless, it is a very useful plant in the tropics.
The leaves are used as wrappings for meats and tamales, and an essential ingredient in making mole verde (a Mexican dish).
Its leaves can get as big as 1 foot in diameter, and the flowers can be seen in the pictures above - a single white spadix.
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Buttercup bush (Turnera subulata)
Bountiful blossoms adorn this bush, which does well in warm climates (USDA zones 9-11). Where there are blooms, there are butterflies, bees, and other pollinators abound. With a yellow and black bulls eye like that, no wonder they find it irresistible!
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Cannon ball tree (Couroupita guianensis)
Through all my travels, and people’s private plant collections, this tree was a delightful discovery today.
The soft colorful flowers hang on vine-like pendulums - hundreds per tree. The fruit, by which it gets its common name, are the size but only a fraction of the weight of a real cannon ball. Despite the lack of weight, a dropped fruit from the height of the tree would still pack a punch.
Fruits are edible, but due to its putrid smell, highly unlikely that anyone would dare try it. They are however eaten by javelina.
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Water lilies on a cloudy day
Today what stood out wasn’t the beauty of the water lily, but the contrast of its leaf patterns on the water, and reflections from the sky above.
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Jamaican Croton (Graptophyllum pictum)
After having this bush planted by the front entry for several years - only now have I realized how well it compliments the colors of the house and front door.
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Beli in her element, surrounded by nature - just in time for her birthday on June 25th
I’d like to think Kyu would interact with the girls at some point, maybe leaving them small tokens here and there - although she most likely wouldn’t be allowed to talk to her clients’ suitors directly
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Disa grandiflora (L.f., 1782) painted by Miss SA Drake. Indigenous to South Africa, particularly the Cape. One of my very favourite orchid species, first identified by my dear friend, Carolus Linnaeus the Younger. Now called Disa uniflora.
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