orchids | Brooklyn Orchids

My New Masdevallia from Trader Joe’s

December 23, 2011 28 Comments

I just did a little shopping at the downtown Brooklyn Trader Joe’s because a few friends are coming over tomorrow to not celebrate Christmas. None of my orchids are in bloom (sad!) so I figured I’d look for something pretty at TJ’s while I was there. And they had a few Masdevallias…for $7.99 each! I picked out this pretty yellow orchid:

There are four open blooms and two that should open soon if this little guy remains happy. Plus, I see at least two more spikes growing as well as some new shoots. Woohoo! This is my first Masdevallia. Let’s hope I can treat her well!

My Orchid Garden, Orchid of the Week

Orchid of the Week: Tolumnias

December 22, 2011 2 Comments

Orchid of the ~~Whenever I Get Around to It~~ Week is back today with Tolumnias! In my most recent post I bragged about one of my Tolumnia plants being in spike, so I thought now would be a good time to feature this pretty mini orchid. Tolumnia blooms come in a variety of bright, cheery colors like this specimen that I saw at the NYBG’s Orchid Show earlier this year:

Brooklyn Orchids Merchandise

‘Tis the Season to Buy Brooklyn Orchids Zazzle Gifts!

December 1, 2011 2 Comments

I always feel a little silly writing shameless self-promotion posts like this, but it must be done. 🙂 Now that it’s December—seriously, where the hell did 2011 go??—I’ve created some new products that you can buy as holiday gifts from my Brooklyn Orchids Zazzle store for the orchid nerd in your life (or for your very own orchid nerd self).

Some of the newest items you can buy are:

Brooklyn Orchids 2012 Orchid Calendar

Bulbophyllum Orchid iPad Case

Botanicals Calendar 2012

Reusable Orchid Tote Bag

Phalaenopsis iPhone Case

FYI, every product in my store is created with my own original photography. There are plenty of other fun orchid (and non-orchid) products in my store including postage stamps, coasters, mugs, and more. Please spread the word—these are honestly unique holiday gifts for orchid and plant lovers alike! Thanks in advance for all of your support from me, your friendly neighborhood Zazzle ProSeller!

Edited to add: If you would like to see a specific orchid photo of mine on a particular item, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment. I’d be more than happy to create a product for you!

My Orchid Garden, Orchid Care

Keiki Removal and Potting Day!

November 30, 2011 18 Comments

I last posted an update on my Phalaenopsis orchid keiki grow experiment on September 1—almost three months ago! Since then many of the keikis have been growing quite nicely, developing roots (and, surprisingly, even a couple of spikes!) and today I decided it was high time to remove some of them and pot them on their own.

The first keiki had sprouted two good roots about three inches in lengths, along with a couple other new roots and a spike! I figured the spike was a sign that this guy was definitely ready for its own pot. The mother plant has her own spike as well.

Phal keiki — Nice healthy phal keiki with spike

My Orchid Garden

Happy Thanksgiving

November 24, 2011 3 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving to all my lovely readers out there. I’m so thankful for you and your support!

I’m at my parents’ house in St. Louis, and my mom’s Brassavola nodosa that I wrote about a couple weeks ago is still in bloom. It has an incredibly strong gardenia scent at night!! Here are a couple fun Instagram pictures of it:

I hope you all have a happy and safe holiday!

How-To, My Orchid Garden, Orchid Beginner Tips, Orchid Care

How to Recognize Orchid Roots and Orchid Spikes, Part Deux: Photos!

November 17, 2011 84 Comments

I’m finding that my post about how to identify whether you have an orchid spike or a root is my most viewed post by far. For example, just in the past week, my spike* vs. root post has been viewed nearly 6x as many times as my second most viewed post of the week. Clearly, “is it a root or is it a spike?” is a big question for new orchid owners!

So in the interest of helping orchid growers out even more, I decided to do another post on this topic, this time with LOTS of photo examples to help better illuminate what a root looks like and what a spike looks like. If you haven’t read my original post, I recommend doing so before you dive into this one. All the below photos are of orchids in my own collection. Because you’ll see more roots growing from your orchid than spikes, let’s begin with root pics:

Phal roots — Two roots emerging from the base of a Phalaenopsis