This lovely little miniature epiphyte hails from Costa Rica. I got it in a trade with a friend late this fall and it is now blooming for the first time for me. It has tiny (5 mm) flowers, in fact they are so small you almost have to photograph them to really see how beautiful the flowers really are (just wish I had […]
I have two very nice Masdevallia tovarensis orchids. Both of which are in bud right now. One bud opened early in December and it was beautiful!! But the rest are just sitting there, waiting. Waiting for what!?! Every day go in there looking, hoping, waiting. But nothing.
I finally figured out that I think they want more humidity in order to deliver the […]
This is a warm growing miniature epiphyte from Ecuador found at elevations of 200 to 500 m. It is a small orchid, the fan measures about 7 cm across and the flowers are only about 0,7 cm a piece. But what she lacks in size she makes up for in abundance. It was quite exciting to follow […]
I used to think of zip ties as a marvel of modern invention, a convenience so brilliant I’d put it right up there with duct tape. But not today. I hang one of my light fixtures from a shelf about half way down in my window. Today when I came home one of the zip ties had broken, not […]
This miniature orchid from the Trichoglottis Alliance was first described by Schlechter in 1913. It hails from the hills and lower montane forests of the Greater Sunda Islands where it grows at elevations up to about 1550 meters. The flowers form small clusters on a very short inflorescence and they are small, about 15 mm, but has great detail. I love the “fringe” […]
It has been quite exciting to follow the development of the Prosthechea cochleata seed pod over the past few weeks. It has been swelling rather quickly and it has been a thrill to watch as it is my first pollination attempt. Then things started going wrong… The new bud forming on this years new bulb started turning brown, I did not see any […]
This lovely little orchid is blooming now for the fist time. I really like the shape of the flowers and the slight sheer interior. Mine has quite a bit more yellow in the color than other pictures I have seen of this species. I bought another Masdevallia (M. rolfeana) at the same time from the same grower that was mislabeled. […]
There is something tragic, yet very graceful, when the orchid flower has done its time. It slowly begins to wilt and finally become a memory (or a mummy) of its former beauty. Yet it lingers, refusing to give up the right to exist, to remember its former grandeur. Sometimes I almost like this process more than buds opening, in a macabre, Edgar Allan […]
It has become a bit of a tradition to have all the vandas tag along on our vacations, so I figured I would post a photo of this year’s group. Since I grow my vandas bare root they get a bath every day (or every other day now when it is a little darker and cooler). Princess Mikasa came […]
I want to wish you all a wonderful xmas and a very nice holiday season. I hope the coming year will bring many wonderful orchid experiences.
Thanks for a fantastic year!
Love, Karma