Yesterday I posted photos from my visit to R.F. Orchids, a lovely orchid nursery and showroom in Homestead, Florida. Today I’d like to share with you the rest of the orchids I photographed throughout our travels in Miami and the Florida Keys. Lots and lots of photos ahead!
Within an hour of arriving in Miami’s South Beach, we were eating lunch on the sidewalk at The Pelican when I spotted two orchids (probably Oncidiums) mounted on a nearby tree trunk:
A few days ago my husband and I returned from an eight-day trip to southern Florida, and it was a much-needed escape from the Brooklyn winter. We flew into Fort Lauderdale and drove to Miami to stay in South Beach for a night; then we drove down to the Keys, with a 3 night stay in Islamorada and a 4 night stay in Key West. Of course I knew I had to look out for orchids in this tropical climate, and I was not disappointed! Needless to say, I pretty much photographed every orchid that I saw, so I’ll be splitting this vacation up into two posts: the first will be photos of our visit to R.F. Orchids, a nursery and showroom in Homestead, and the second will be photos of orchids that we saw throughout our trip.
Let’s get started with R.F. Orchids!
Happy Black Friday Day After Thanksgiving, everyone! My husband and I flew to St. Louis yesterday to visit with my parents for a few days and had a lovely dinner with them last night (thanks, Mom!).
Like me, my mom is an orchid enthusiast, and she currently has 15 orchids in the house. They’re spread out over a few different rooms, but most of them are getting southern exposure and are looking quite well. Two of them are blooming like gangbusters at the moment, and they’re so gorgeous that I wanted to share! Apologies for the iPhone quality photosāI actually FORGOT to pack my camera for this trip! Who am I?! I never forget my camera!
First up is a nice, large Oncidium Intergeneric Green Valley Honey ‘Sweet Lady’ which has one spike in full bloom and a second spike in development:
My husband and I returned from our belated honeymoon a couple weeks ago, but it feels like we were in Italy just yesterday! We took a two week trip that was sorely needed, and it did not disappoint. Not to mention, I was pleasantly surprised to see orchids pretty much everywhere we went!
Our trip to the Dolomites (which I HIGHLY recommend to anyone who likes gorgeous scenery and fresh mountain air) did not yield any wild orchid spottings, as most of the orchids that grow in that part of the world only in bloom in June and July. However, SO many of the adorable alpine homes and businesses in our little town of Ortisei (in the Val Gardena area) had orchids in the windows, including our hotelāthe Alpin Garden Wellness Resort, which I also highly recommend. In fact, the lobby and breakfast room of our hotel was just filled with orchids! If you follow Brooklyn Orchids on Instagram you’ve probably already seen some of the photos I posted.
Well, here I am again with yet another apology for having neglected my blog. But I have some lovely orchid photos to share with you, so hopefully I’ll be forgiven.Ā š
Over Memorial Day weekend, my husband and I went down to D.C. for a little weekend getaway and some sightseeing. Our first destination was the United States Botanic Garden, which was the first-ever visit there for the both of us. And it was oh so glorious! First of all, it was a gorgeous day, and we strolled around the outdoor rose garden, sniffing the heavily scented blooms. From there, we went on into the Conservatory, which is just a wonderland for plant lovers. While we enjoyed every part of the Conservatory, you know what my favorite portion was. I spent quite a bit of time in the orchid room, marveling at the displays of orchids both familiar and unfamiliar to me.
Of course, I took tons of pictures so I could share them with you. Here are some of my favorites:
My recent vacation to Jamaica (and my trip to Puerto Rico last year) inspired me to write this post about the types of orchids that are native to several popular (mostly tropical, of course!) tourist destinations. If you’re planning a trip to any of these locations, see if you can spot some native orchids while you’re there! I’ve only been to three of these places so far, but I hope to visit each of them at some point in my lifetimeāand you can be I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for wild orchids. These lists are far from comprehensive but will give you an idea of what types of orchids you can look out for in each place.
Belize
Approximately 300 orchid species are native to this Central American country whose national flower is the Black Orchid: the Prosthechea cochleata (formerly known as Encyclia cochleata). Orchids from a variety of other species can also be found growing wild in Belize: Bletia purpurea, Catasetum integerrimum, Encyclia radiata, Epidendrum ibaguense, Isochilus carnosiflorus, Lycaste aromatica, Maxillaria hedwigae, Mormolyca ringens, Myrmecophila tibicinis, Notylia barkeri, Oeceoclades maculata, Oncidium altissimum,Ā Oncidium sphacelatum, Sobralia macrantha, Trigonidium egertonianumĀ , and Vanilla planifolia.