orchids | Brooklyn Orchids

Meet My Newest Orchids

August 10, 2010 18 Comments

Last week I gave in to the lure of 20% off orchids at Orchids by Hausermann and ordered four more beauties to add to my collection. On Friday afternoon, my newest additions arrived!! They all look like they’re in good shape, and one of them even has a small spike growing! Click on the photos below to see larger versions.

Newest Orchid Additions! — From L to R: Encyclia cochleata, Phal hieroglyphica, Huntleya heteroclita, Phal violacea

The Encyclia cochleata is the largest of the four, and it’s still a pretty small plant, about 10″ tall at most. Here’s a closer look at it:

The Huntleya heteroclita is so much smaller than I expected. Huntleyas are in the same family as Zygopetalums, and the two Zygos in my collection are literally about 10 times larger than this Huntleya! It may just be a seedling, I’m actually not sure. But it’s a cutie:

The smallest of my new orchids, however, is the Phalaenopsis violacea, which arrived in a 2″ pot:

Last but not least is the Phalaenopsis hieroglyphica, which has a small spike growing from its base! I will be SO THRILLED if this plant blooms soon!!

You can see the little mitten-shaped spike in this close-up:

I haven’t repotted any of my new orchids yet (BAD!!) but I am going to do so this week to make sure all is ok with the plants’ roots.

In other news, this morning I finally bought a thermometer/humidity meter for my Orchid Room so that I can actually start to monitor these things; I’ve been meaning to do this for awhile! Already, I see that the humidity in the room is just over 50% so I think I’m going to get a small humidifier.

Orchid of the Week

Orchid of the Week: Psychopsis krameriana

August 6, 2010 5 Comments

One of the craziest looking orchids I’ve seen in person is the Psychopsis krameriana, aka Kramer’s Butterfly Orchid:

I was just reminded of these orchids the other day while perusing the orchid selection from Silva Orchids at the Union Square Greenmarket. Silva had a couple Psychopsis plants for sale and of course I considered buying one. I managed to restrain myself – hooray!

I first encountered Psychopsis at the NYBG‘s 2009 Orchid Show. It was one of the more unique-looking orchids on display and I was completely taken with it. At first glance this orchid looks like a butterfly, but when you look closer you find something more sinister:

Psychopsis krameriana at NYBG — Skull face!

As a fan of all things sinister, I immediately fell in love with the Psychopsis. When I discovered the orchid’s name, I became even more enamored of it because I’m all about psychology. And of course I found another Psychopsis to photograph at this year’s Orchid Show:

Psychopsis krameriana at 2010 Orchid Show — 2010 Orchid Show Psychopsis

The level of detail on these blooms is just incredible. Psychopsis orchids are part of the Oncidium family, which is known for its delicate yet detailed flowers.

I thought these orchids were so cool that (shameless plug ahead!!) I felt compelled to create Psychopsis Orchid postage stamps for my Zazzle store. 🙂

My Orchid Garden

Hausermann’s Summer Sale: 20% off Orchids!

August 3, 2010 3 Comments

I was looking at orchid porn photos yesterday evening because I was bored and still nursing a cold. To make myself feel better, I went to one of my favorite online stores: Orchids by Hausermann, and immediately discovered that they are running a summer sale on orchids—all orders are 20% off between July 18 and August 15!

So…you can see where this is headed. The orchid addiction is bad enough at full price—especially on Hausermann’s, which has some pretty good prices to begin with. But a 20% discount? I’m hopeless. Here are the four orchids that I ordered, with photos from Hausermann’s website:

1. Huntleya heteroclita – originally $7.99, $6.39 with discount. This one might have to make the next edition of Unfortunate Orchid Names. I’d never heard of Huntleya before, and after doing some research I discovered it’s in the same subtribe as Zygopetalum, which is one of my favorite types of orchids. No wonder I was immediately attracted to this one.

2. Encyclia cochleata – originally $10, $8 with discount. This orchid was my very first Orchid of the Week selection. I REALLY hope I can get this one to bloom. The flowers are so incredibly unique and adorable!

3. Phalaenopsis hieroglyphica ‘Egyptian Lore’ x self – originally $10, $8 with discount

4. Phalaenopsis violacea (Malaysia x var. Borneo) – originally $15, $12 with discount. I chose this variety as Orchid of the Week recently.

Guess what? I felt better after placing my orchid order. 😛 Now I wait on pins and needles for my shipment to arrive. If you’ve got an orchid itch that needs to be scratched, make sure you take advantage of Hausermann’s summer sale ASAP*!

*I just want to note that I write about Hausermann’s simply because I like the site. I don’t have any sort of deal with them whatsoever. Even with the FTC blog regulations it can be hard to tell who is in bed with whom, so I wanted to make that clear. 🙂

Orchid of the Week

Orchid of the Week: Vanda Robert’s Delight

July 30, 2010 1 Comment

The orchid I’ve chosen to feature this week is a type that literally takes my breath away when I see it in person: Vanda Robert’s Delight. This orchid comes in a variety of colors, but the purple ones are my favorites:

I saw these Vandas on display at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx:

One of the things I love most about Vandas are the little skeleton-looking faces in the center of the blooms. Here’s a closer look:

I don’t really have much to say about these flowers at the moment because I have a cold so my brain is sort of mush. But I think these orchids are gorgeous so I had to post something about them. I could seriously look at pictures of Vandas online all day long. Vanda porn!

My Orchid Garden

I think I can, I think I can…

July 27, 2010 4 Comments

I came home from my nerd vacation yesterday afternoon fully expecting to find that The Orchid That Won’t Die had finally given up the ghost. Before I left for San Diego, its big leaf had started to shrivel a bit and curl up around the edges, so I assumed it was truly on its way out. As soon as I got home from the airport, I entered my orchid room and saw that the leaf had shriveled further and started turning yellow:

Then I took a closer look and realized that the orchid is GROWING A NEW LEAF!!

Orchid's new leaf! — New leaf growing! Amazing!!

Not only is it amazing that the orchid is growing a new leaf, I think there may be a new root starting to swell from the root base — you can see a small green pimply-looking thing in this photo:

new orchid root? — Could it possibly be a new root??

If this orchid is actually recovering I might have to declare myself the Orchid Rescue Master. I just can’t believe that this plant has started to sprout a new leaf when it doesn’t even have any roots to soak up nutrients! Unreal. Orchids are just chock full of surprises!

Orchid of the Week

Orchid of the Week: Pterostylis nutans

July 16, 2010 No Comments

This week’s orchid is the Pterostylis nutans, an orchid native to Australia and New Zealand. This orchid has a couple aliases: the Nodding Greenhood and the Parrot’s Beak Orchid. What its scientific name makes me think of is a pterodactyl, but the plant looks more Venus Flytrap than Flying Reptile. This orchid actually traps insects inside its blooms—how very Little Shop of Horrors!

Pollination is unique with this orchid. The bloom has a hinged lip that swings backward when an insect such as a gnat or mosquito lands on it. The insect is then forced to escape by crawling past the sticky flower pollen which adheres to the insect’s body, ensuring pollination of the next bloom it lands on. Neato!

Pterostylis nutans bloom — Image credit: pacificbulbsociety.org

The Pterostylis nutans pollination story reminds me a bit of the Angraecum sesquipedale (Darwin’s orchid), which was Orchid of the Week about a month ago. It’s just incredible the way orchids have evolved to reproduce the best way possible for their environment. Evolution never ceases to amaze me!