Ok, I’ll admit it. Sometimes my mind is in the gutter. A lot of the time, actually. So when I hear orchid names like the ones listed below, my mind automatically goes there. I’ll let the names speak for themselves. In no particular order, here are…
1. Cattleya labiata
Recently I became a member of the American Orchid Society (AOS, found at www.aos.org) and my membership includes all these cool benefits:
That’s all pretty sweet for only $65 a year, right?! Especially with the inclusion of the monthly magazine subscription. I’m pretty psyched about the free admission, reduced guest fees, and gift shop discounts at AOS botanical gardens. Brooklyn Botanic Garden, New York Botanical Garden, and Queens Botanical Garden are all on their list, as is the Missouri Botanical Garden (MoBot) in my hometown of St. Louis. Plus, I now have access to the members-only forum on the AOS website. More orchid nerdery! Love it!
Dracula is real! In orchid form, anyway. This past week I discovered that there is a genus of orchids named Dracula, so of course I had to pick one for this week’s featured orchid (vamps are SO HOT RIGHT NOW). So of course there is a variety called Dracula vampira—and like its undead namesake, it is dark and a little spooky:
Dracula vampira is native to the mountains of Transylvania Ecuador and Colombia. Look at the flowy capes on these guys! No sparkly vamps here, just pure beauty.
Pretty spectacular, right? Who knew such flowers existed?? The incredible variety in appearance is one of the things I love about orchids, and the names can be super fun too. I wonder when there will be a Dracula vampira named ‘Edward‘…if there isn’t already. Personally, I’d like to see a ‘Stefan‘, or maybe even a ‘Damon‘. 🙂
My three new Phals from Orchids by Hausermann arrived on Friday afternoon — and I was pleasantly surprised to find that one of them is already in bloom! Check ’em out:
The P. manii blooms are teeny tiny; see how they compare to a quarter?
It’s hard to convey the absolute adorableness of these itsy-bitsy blooms in photos, but below is more detailed shot of a P. manii bloom. And by the way, these blooms do have a very subtle fragrance; to me they have a vague aroma of cinnamon.
And look, the P. amboinensis has a little spike starting to poke out from the stem! The little nub on the left is the spike. Spikes can be hard to identify, but remember that the spikes are flatter at the tip than roots when they begin to appear.
So far, seems like another successful purchase from Hausermann’s. Each of my new orchids has nice long silvery roots and a couple of them have new leaves starting to grow out of the top of the crown. Oh yeah, and one of the best things about my new orchid plants? I only spent $40.50 on them, including shipping! Seriously, orchids CAN be affordable; you just need to know where to look. 🙂
The other night I was lying in bed and thought it would be fun to do a new feature on my blog where we take a look at a different type of orchid each week. The breadth of variety within the orchid family is astounding and I’m constantly finding out about orchids that I’ve never seen before.
So I’m going to feature a different orchid each Friday, partly for educational purposes, but mostly for marveling at pretty orchid photos. 🙂 Just one of the sources I’ll use to select orchids for these posts is 300 Orchids: Species, Hybrids & Varieties in Cultivation by Jane Boosey, which in and of itself holds tons of photos and information about orchids I’ve never even heard of. And (duh) it only has 300 kinds! According to Wikipedia there are up to 26,000 species of orchids…which, in my mind, may as well be infinity.
Alright, so after that windup, the the orchid I’ve chosen for the first Orchid of the Week installment is Encyclia cochleata, aka Prosthechea cochleata. According to Bloom-Again Orchids by judywhite, the name may even be changed again, to Anacheilium cochleatum.
This orchid is also known as the cockleshell orchid or the octopus orchid; the reason why is pretty clear. The blooms can be fragrant and the plant is a native grower in Florida (where it is endangered), among other countries like Colombia and Venezuela. I just think it’s freakin’ adorable — I mean look at it! This is one of the more unique-looking orchids that I’ve come across so far (with my fairly limited orchid knowledge).
This orchid variety tends to have long-lasting blooms and can even have blooms throughout most of the year. How cool is that!? I would definitely like to try growing an Encyclia cochleata at some point in my life. 🙂
Brooklyn Botanic Garden‘s Sakura Matsuri (aka Cherry Blossom Festival) is this weekend and you can bet that I’ll be there! The weather is supposed to be gorgeous all weekend, which gets me even more excited because it’s been wet, cold, and windy all week.
I went to the festival for the first time last year and loved it. Already this year the cherry blossom trees are past their peak bloom, but I’m sure it will still be a beautiful visit.
The festival is Saturday, May 1 from 10:00am to 6:00pm and Sunday, May 2 from 10:00am to 7:00pm. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and students. BBG members and children under 12 get in free.
One thing to note is that the 2/3 trains aren’t in service this weekend, but you can still get to the garden by taking the 4/5 train to the Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum stop. Gotta love the MTA…especially on weekends.