Orchid blog
This blog is dormant at the moment, but it is still getting a lot of visitis so I will keep it up for you guys as a resource. My future adventures will be published on my new blog, hope to see you there!
My focus… if pressed to name favorites it would have to be orchids of the Pleurothallid Alliance. But a Paphiopedilum was the first orchid I ever fell in love with so slipper orchids will always be close to my heart, and while we are on the subject I might as well disclose a love affair with Neofinetia as well.
Orchid hunting in Costa Rica
A friend of mine is travelling in Costa Rica right now. He is spending a whole month there climbing around in the mountain rainforests looking for orchids. He is telling the story as he goes and posting some beautiful photos as well. I am really enjoying following his adventures from afar as it seem to involve a lot of mud, snakes and really extraneous hikes... although deep down I wish I could see all this amazing stuff [...]
Masdevallia norae
This is such an ethereal and elegant little Masdevallia. At first the flowers might seem a bit bland and colorless, but when you really look at them up close you see that the they are cast in an almost metallic sheen. The incredible subtle purple details inside the flowers are further accentuated by the plain outside wrapper. Quite stunning really. Masdevallia norae originates from South America where it grows at a pretty broad altitude span between 200 and 800 meters so [...]
Brassavola nodosa
Oh I have been waiting for this one to bloom for a year now, and here it is. Finally! ...and what a beautiful flower it is!! A long lasting sensual flower with elegant flowing shapes in delicate shades of cream and white... It has a very pleasant fragrance that grows a lot stronger at night. I read somewhere that it was supposed to smell like citrus but I think it is closer to Lilly of [...]
Cool vivarium – some fine tuning and upgrades
For the past few weeks I have been working on a few long awaited upgrades for the cool vivarium. Well, long awaited for me, I am not a very patient person... Now they are finally all done and I am very pleased with the results. So here is an updated photo of the viv today along with an account of all I have been working on. First, the rain system... I realized pretty soon after [...]
Paphiopedilum Vinicolor
In Othello, William Shakespeare wrote, "good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well used." This impressive Paphiopedilum Vinicolor orchid is a very nice familiar creature indeed. It bloomed last year in November, and here we go again. Nice with dependable orchids you can set your watch to. About being well used... well... at least it is very much appreciated. The beautiful waxy deeply wine colored flowers measure about 12 cm tall and 11 cm wide. [...]
Masdevallia laucheana
This is a very nice and fragrant little Masdevallia endemic to Costa Rica where it grows in primary forests from 950 to 1500 meters. The description of Masdevallia laucheana on IOSPE claim that is is supposed to smell like vanilla, a good friend of mine swears that his smells just like coconut, but mine definitely has a very distinct Lemon Pledge (furniture wax) scent. The scent discrepancies might be culture related, I know that my friend grows his [...]