orchids

Angraecum sororium

Two years after bringing home Angraecum sororium from a plant sale in Westminster, CA, it's opened the first of its four buds. This species in native to Madagascar and is wonderfully night-fragrant like most Angraecoids. Along with succulents, I've been growing orchids for over twenty years now. I’ve learned enough along the way for it to be a rewarding hobby.

Angraecum sororium
You can’t go wrong with reading books written by experts in their respective fields if you want to get better at something. There’s no one size fits all approach to orchid culture even within a genus.

You can’t go wrong with reading books written by experts in their respective fields if you want to get better at something. There’s no one size fits all approach to orchid culture even within a genus.

I’m breaking my general rule of ruthlessly editing and instead showing this flower in another light. Both photographs are pleasing to me for different reasons. This is the one I uploaded to Pixels.com. Please shoot me a message if you’re interested in a print of the other one.

An old orchid friend

This Dendrobium lindleyi (formerly aggregatum) once hung in a west facing window in downtown Detroit, an east facing one in the Central West End of St. Louis and now lives outdoors in San Diego under a queen palm. This species blooms more prolifically with a winter rest from about Thanksgiving through spring which it doesn’t really get around here because of our winter rains. I do withhold fertilizer until I see new growth on it in the spring, though. It’s pleasantly fragrant.

Dendrobium aggregatum