I would like to wish you all a very nice Christmas with images of this lovely Lepanthes, named after Melpomene who initially was the Greek muse of singing and later became the muse of tragedy. Perhaps it only works in my warped mind, but it somehow seemed a fitting theme for the day… the rest of you – go with the intense beauty […]
I love everything about Dracula orchids, and this species does not disappoint… I love the shape of the flowers, the awesome dark red to nearly black sepaline tails an the coloring – especially from the back. I adore the icicle looking texture of the flowers and the little monkey face in the middle of the flowers just makes me smile. Dracula velutina is a medium […]
A small to medium size warm to intermediate growing epiphyte that was found in the in cloud forest on Mombacho Volcano in Nicaragua, but it grows across most of Central America. The waxy white flowers measure about 1,5 cm tall and bloom on a short, single flowered, suberect inflorescence amidst the leaves. I really like the sparse pink and green details inside the flowers and the faint […]
A lovely intermediate to cool growing epiphyte from Costa Rica and Panama where it grows in cloud forests at elevations from 1200 up to 2400 meters. My plant is fairly small in size, measuring about 12-15 cm tall, but apparently the species can grow about twice as large. It produces a small cluster of flowers on a terminal inflorescence. Very petite and sweet flowers measuring […]
Platystele microtatantha is one of the smallest orchids in the world. The flower is not much bigger than the tip of a pen at about 2-3 mm or so, I admit it is a bitch to measure… The whole plant, even though it is quite a healthy specimen, does not measure more than a couple of centimeters across. The worlds smallest orchid ever […]
This is one of several types of Trichosalpinx orbicularis, a warm to intermediate growing epiphyte from Central- to nothern South America where it grows at elevations of 180 to 1500 meters. I just could not stop photographing this fantastically photogenic species, such amazingly showy and voluptuous flowers. They measure about 2,5 mm. each and are held like a bunch of 9-10 grapes under the leaf. The coloration […]
This fascinating looking species hail, as the name suggests, from Costa Rica. It produces a remarkable display of flowers with an uncanny resemblance to a flock of birds resting on a wire. A fairly forgiving species, a strong grower both in the shade and in brighter conditions. Apparently it can produce multiple inflorescences per pseudobulb, but mine has produced but one with twelve flowers this year. […]
Some orchids are just amazing bloomers, and this is definitely one of those. It blooms with this intense vigor twice a year in spring and fall with a sweet display of 30+ fragrant flowers with a lovely scent of honey. Masdevallia roseola is a miniature intermediate to cool growing epiphyte from Peru and Ecuador where it grows at elevations of 1500 to 1900 meters. I grow […]
This intermediate, small growing epiphyte grows at at 1700 meters on the eastern slopes of the central cordillera in Colombia. It is commonly called “the copper-colored Restrepia”, and it is not hard to see why. The deep color almost seem metallic under the lights. I got it from Ecuagenera in May, and it is now blooming for the first time. I grow it mounted […]
Finally, I have completed an upgrade to the fog delivery system in the cool vivarium. This new system is delivering the fog horizontally, cascading down about two thirds of the back wall and the right side, enveloping the plants mounted there in a cool mist, and filling the whole vivarium with fog in about 3-4 minutes. I have to turn the fans […]
