Category Archives: Orchids

Growing Zygopetalum Orchids

Zygopetalum orchids are a small but very attractive group of orchid species in white or cream with lilac patterns on the flowers that can be found in shades of green, purple, burgundy, and raspberry. The Zygopetalum orchid’s name is derived from the Greek word zygon, which means “yoked petal” and refers to the Zygopetalum flower with its yoke-like growth at the base of […]

The Vanilla orchid and the Vanilla planifolia (Vanilla Vine)

The Vanilla orchid’s natural habitat is in the neo tropics and includes areas such as Mexico, Guatemala, and tropical Asia, New Guinea and West Africa and other parts of Central America. Vanilla is well-known to most people and is arguably the world’s most popular spice. The orchid plant itself is a climbing orchid and sometimes also a vine and belongs to the Orchidacea family. The Vanilla orchid is both terrestrial and […]

Growing Vanda Orchids

The Vanda Orchid is not very different from the Ascocenda orchid and the Phalaenopsis orchid or the Moth Orchid as it is fondly thought of. All these orchid species are totally tropical. The Vanda orchids are no more difficult to grow than other orchids, but they do have special cultural needs if you want to bring out the best in this orchid species. The Vanda orchids originated from […]

Growing Pleione orchids

The Pleione Orchid is a terrestrial temperate orchid group of around twenty five cool and alpine growing orchids that prefers cool conditions. They originate from areas such as East and Southeast Asia, more specific Taiwan, China and the Himalayas (Nepal) where they thrive on the rocky outcrops and close to the snow line at the edges of woods and forests. These orchids are semi epiphytic […]

The Phalaenopsis orchid (Moth orchid)

The Phalaenopsis or the elegant Moth orchid is one of the most beautiful with fleshy leaves and flowers in a huge range of colors. The Phalaenopsis orchid is becoming more and more popular as a houseplant due to their ease of culture and to their beautiful, long-lasting flowers. Modern Phalaenopsis orchid hybrids are very colorful and some are fragrant as well. The wedding […]

Growing Paphiopedilum Orchid or Lady Slipper Orchid

Paphiopedilum orchids are one of the best orchid species to cultivate under artificial lighting. They are superb as house plants with their long lasting orchid flowers on their elegant stems. There are many spectacular hybrids available, and are about 60 species from tropical Asia extending through to India, the Solomon Islands, and New Guinea. Paphiopedilum orchids come in a myriad of colors. Paphiopedilum orchids prefer […]

Growing Oncidium orchids

The Oncidium orchid is also known as the golden shower orchid, and in some areas people also refer to the Oncidium orchid as the Dancing Lady Orchid because the Oncidium orchid flowers resemble dancing ladies. This is an extraordinarily large and diverse New World genus with an equally diverse number of habitats. Oncidium orchids occur naturally throughout the American Tropics from Florida to Argentina. This obviously makes cultural generalizations difficult. If […]

Growing Miltoniopsis orchids

The genus Miltoniopsis was established by Godefroy-Lebeuf in 1889 in honor of Fitzwilliam and Milton. The Miltoniopsis orchids are intermediate climate orchids. This means that they can be warm-growing orchids as well as cooler-growing orchids. Although the Miltonia orchids and Miltoniopsis orchids are similar, the distinction between the two is made by referring to the Miltonia orchids as the warmer-growing orchids which come from Brazil, and the Miltoniopsis orchids as the cooler-growing orchids which come from Columbia, Ecuador and Peru. It is easy […]

Growing Miltonia Orchids

The Miltonia orchids are intermediate climate orchids. These orchids are found in its natural habitat in places like Brazil and to a lesser extent in Columbia and Ecuador as well where the Miltoniopsis orchid tends to thrive since they are slightly cooler-growing orchids. The everyday name of the Miltonia orchids is the Pansy Orchids. This is due to the Miltonia orchid flower resembling the Violas of Pansies as they are fondly known as. These […]

Orchid flowers and the orchid reproduction cycle

Orchid Life Cycle Orchids are one of the most interesting plants with the most fascinating life cycle, which is similar to most flowering plants but with a number of twists. They have, for example, developed odd pollination strategies with some orchids producing the pheromones of female wasps to attract the male wasps who then pollinate the flowers! Some orchids […]