Only one of my orchids in the Greenhouse In The Loo is currently blooming, plunging me into serious depths of orchid depravation. So, when I saw a new shipment of
Phalaenopsis in the Raley's nursery today, I picked up a couple to revitalize my spirit. Phals are among the most popular orchids in the trade, with many hybrids having been developed over the years. I've seen them in many colors - from darkest purple, through magenta, pink, white, yellow, orange, beige and even green. Fortunately, they're relatively easy to raise, and I've had good luck so far keeping mine alive and healthy. Although they don't bloom nearly as often as I'd like, I've been blessed with at least one "offspring" from each plant over the years.
Phalaena was the the name given to a group of large moths by 18th century Swedish botanist, Carl Linnaeus, and, because the flowers of this species supposedly resemble moths in flight, they are sometimes called
moth orchids. While I think some moths are quite beautiful, I really don't see any resemblance between them and these beautiful flowers... but what do I know?!
So, here are my two newest "flower children"... as you can see, they both have many unopened buds, so I expect them to be blooming for quite a few weeks to come.
1 comment:
They are absolutely gorgeous. The only experience I've had with orchids was a stained glass cymbinium that I was asked to create many years back in my glass days. It was one of the most difficult windows to achieve because of how intricate they are plus the colors on cymbiniums are difficult to achieve in glass. It must be wonderful to have a green thumb with orchids. (I'm not sure I spelled cymbinium correctly)
Post a Comment