What's In Bloom...


Although most of our orchids have settled in for a long winter's nap in preparation for spring blooming, a few have braved the cold to put out some extraordinary flowers.

Our Paph. Somers Isles x Paph. Hsinying Majakun (under inspection by our cat Huey), recently acquired on a trip to Woodstream Orchids in Calvert County, MD

A similar paph with a gorgeous ruby/plum color, the Paph. Redhawk x Paph. Hsinying Magic 'Voodoo' was also acquired on our trip.


Another new addition to the flock, this Charlesworthii X Spotglen recently bloomed.

One of my favorites, we acquired this Dendrobium Victoria-Reginae about a year ago. A perpetual bloomer, the first inflorescences were small with a magenta-purple hue; this round is much larger and robust (long live Super Thrive), with indigo, almost blue blooms. You'll notice an interesting inconsistency-- while two of the inflorescences are the standard color, the blooms in the lower left are almost "albino" with purple tips.

Some other pics of the Victoria-Reginae...





Step 1: We admit that we are powerless over our addiction.

It all began with a single phaleanopsis given to us as a housewarming present almost three years ago. We watered it once in awhile, grew it in organic potting soil, and soon learned that that's no way to treat an orchid (amazingly, it still managed to put out blooms a year and a half later). Since then, we've amassed a collection of more than 50 orchids, 15+ species, and we've only just begun. Cheyenne once told me that even if we attempted to collect a different orchid every day for the rest of our lives, we still wouldn't be able to collect every orchid that grows on the planet. That fact, however, does not seem to discourage him from trying.

Cheyenne is our resident orchid expert and likes to cultivate them; I take the far less challenging route of photographing and writing about them, offering moral support, and watering them when he's out of town. This blog will chronicle our experiences with growing orchids, particularly our ever-increasing collection of paphs, other slipper orchids, and our odyssey to bring four sanderianum seedlings to bloom (look for that post in 3-5 years), as well as our adventures in engineering our home's evolving "orchid room" and our trips to various orchid shows and society meetings.