brooklynorchids | Brooklyn Orchids

Spam: It’s What’s for Dinner

February 12, 2011 No Comments

I would like to talk about the fact that I’m getting more spam comments these days. You know the type: the random generic comments that are clearly outsourced by really crappy websites in an effort to increase linkbacks. They’re the comments that barely pass for English—sometimes they aren’t in English at all—and are not at all relevant to my content. But the results are, quite honestly, hilarious. Some examples:

Comment on the post Beginner Tips on How to Grow Phalaenopsis Orchids: You made some first rate points there. I regarded on the internet for the problem and located most people will go along with with your website. Commenter Name: “porn”

Comment on the same “Beginner Tips” post: A formidable share, I simply given this onto a colleague who was doing just a little analysis on this. And he the truth is purchased me breakfast as a result of I discovered it for him.. smile. So let me reword that: Thnx for the treat! But yeah Thnkx for spending the time to debate this, I feel strongly about it and love reading extra on this topic. If doable, as you turn out to be expertise, would you thoughts updating your blog with extra details? It is extremely useful for me. Big thumb up for this weblog publish! Commenter Name: “car racing games”

Comment on “How to Water a Phalaenopsis Orchid“: About time! Someone with some information on this. You’d think considering how popular Comic Book Adaptations are nowadays, some information would actually be pretty easy to find. Apparently not. Anyway, thanks for this! I appreciate it! Commenter Name: “ip camera.”

Really, “ip camera”? Did I talk about “Comic Book Adaptations” in my post about how to water orchids? Couldn’t you at least make your comment more generic? Of course, there is also a random, really long comment in Russian with lots of links to what I’m sure are Russian ~~dating~~ porn sites. And then there’s a comment with links to see videos of girls with big…well, you know.

It’s not like these spam comments I’m getting are in any way unique to my blog; every blog receives some amount of spam. I think in a way, the fact that I’m getting more spam comments is a good thing—it means that more people are coming across my site somehow. At least WordPress has a good spam filter that catches these suckers so I can delete them…only after laughing at them and sharing the worst offenders with you, naturally. 🙂

Orchid of the Week

Orchid of the Week: Phalaenopsis White Dream

February 12, 2011 1 Comment

I missed posting an Orchid of the Week yesterday because my boyfriend and I made a trip to Spa Castle, a really awesome and affordable Korean Day spa in Queens. I’m posting today instead, and my visit to the spa got me thinking about how some spas use white Phalaenopsis orchids in their advertising. And in movies/on TV, a lot of spas and massage places have white orchids as part of their decor. I suppose these orchids with long sprays of giant, pure white blooms are synonymous with relaxation and pampering in the spa world. So…this week’s orchid is the Phalaenopsis White Dream, apparent spa orchid of choice:

Phalaenopsis White Dream — Photo credit: garden-photos-com.photoshelter.com

Amazingly, I don’t have one of these in my own collection, though they are popular and sold almost everywhere I go to buy orchids. However, my friend recently received a big white orchid (actually 2 plants potted together) at work from a vendor, and I’m going to pick it up from her office so that I can pot the plants separately and care for them at home. I will be the proud owner of these “spa orchid” beauties very soon! 🙂

Events, Orchid Shows

Orchid Show: Missouri Botanical Garden

February 4, 2011 1 Comment

One thing I loved about growing up in St. Louis (born & raised!) was the Missouri Botanical Garden, or “Mobot” as it’s known to locals. I have great memories of wandering the garden and collecting Osage Oranges, checking out the Climatron, visiting the amazing Japanese garden, and feeding the HUGE koi. What I don’t remember about Mobot is that they throw an annual Orchid Show—I’m not actually sure when they started doing it. This year’s Mayan-themed show began on January 29 and runs through March 27.

I wish I was in St. Louis right now so that I could go to this show! Fortunately, my mom (also an orchid lover/owner) is going to attend soon, so I’m sure I’ll get the full scoop, with photos, from her. Any readers out there in the St. Louis area—this is definitely something to check out!

To whet your appetite, Mobot has posted a video of last year’s Paris-themed Orchid Show:

Gorgeous!

Orchid of the Week

Orchid of the Week: Bulbophyllum Putidum

February 4, 2011 4 Comments

My brother is currently traveling in Thailand during a break from teaching in China. So this week I decided to feature an orchid native to Thailand, where in the next few days my brother is going to be ziplining, riding an elephant, going to a flower festival (yay!), trekking to local tribes in the hills, and more.

Upon googling orchids native to Thailand, I discovered the crazy little gem that is Bulbophyllum putidum:

Orchid of the Week

Orchid of the Week: Dendrobium Spectabile

January 28, 2011 4 Comments

I’m back on track with Orchid of the Week today! This week, I’ve chosen the very unique-looking Dendrobium spectabile. You may be familiar with Dendrobiums that look like this:

My Orchid Garden, Orchid Care

Brooklyn Orchids Bloom & Spike Report

January 24, 2011 6 Comments

I totally missed my Orchid of the Week post last Friday, because I was hard at work on a freelance project. Whoops.

I also missed my Sunday morning orchid watering session yesterday, so I watered them this morning instead. And I discovered that a pretty bloom on one of my Phals opened up overnight!

Pink Phal in bloom — Love the white outline of this one

There are also lots of beautiful blooms on this orchid’s side shoot:

White Phal blooming — Delicate white and pink blooms

A couple weeks ago, I noticed what looked like not one, but two side shoots from this orchid’s growing spike:

Side shoots on an orchid spike — Hmm…could it be?

I thought the growths had that flattened-at-the-tip mitten shape that is characteristic of spikes, rather than the fuller shape of a bud. And I was right! Here’s what the spike and side shoots look like today—you can really see the difference between growing buds and side shoots in this pic (buds on top, shoots on bottom):

Two side shoots on a moth orchid spike — More blooms to come!!

Yet another one of my Phals is starting to grow a side shoot. It stopped blooming a month or so ago, so I cut the spike to try and force it to bloom again. Doing this really works! Here’s proof:

Side shoot on a cut orchid spike — New side shoot growth

A couple of my other Phals in spike have swelling buds, so I’m going to have lots of blooms in the near future. It’s so very exciting to see my patience paying off!!