People expect beautiful flowers to smell good. The truth is, the primary role of fragrance in flowers is to attract pollinators. This is as true of orchids as it is of any other family of plants. Some of these pollinators (flies, for example) prefer very strange odors. Others don’t even have much sense of smell (birds), relying instead on visual cues to zero in on a flower. In addition, many of the artifical orchid hybrids have had the fragrance bred right out of them in the quest for ever larger more colorful blooms.

The upshot of this is that people are sometimes disappointed and even surprised by what does or doesn’t emanate from a gorgeous orchid blossom. "Catnip" and "socks" might be the verdict when someone gets a whiff of certain Oncidiums. "Nothing" might be the baffled response after a deep sniff at a stunning purple Phalaenopsis.

There is certainly no reason to stop sniffing, however. A vast number of orchids still exude the sweet, spicy fragrances that people can’t get enough of.

Cattleya, Rhyncostylis, Zygopetalum, many of the Oncidium genus, certain Cymbidiums and Miltassias - the names sound like something out of Roman military history, but the aromas are as fresh and delightful as a stroll through the Garden of Eden.

Funny footnote: If you look into the center of almost any orchid flower, you will see a small light-colored structure called the column. The column always looks to me like a human nose! It’s a silly coincidence, but it makes me laugh whenever I notice it.

"What frightful trouble you have taken about Vanilla; you really must not take an atom more; for the orchids are more play than real work"    

-Charles Darwin in letter to colleague William Hooker   

  As I am preparing for this year’s Orchid Mania exhibit  opening February 27, I wanted to share some history of one very interesting and perhaps most economically important orchid species, Vanilla planifolia. The vanilla orchid is peculiar because it grows like a vine. The fermented seedpods are the source of the flavoring vanillin.

        Vanilla and chocolate have a long history together and have been together long before the invention of ice cream.  One of the earliest record of the use of the vanilla bean dates back as far early 1400’s when vanilla beans along with cacao seeds, from which chocolate is derived, were part of tributes paid by the Totonacs and other Central American tribes to the Aztecs. The Aztecs, Mayans, and other Central American natives used vanilla almost exclusively to flavor and perfume a popular beverage prepared from cacao seeds. 

      In the early 1500’s, vanilla, along with its chocolate beverage, was introduced in Europe and became popular among the wealthy. It wasn’t until 1602 that Hugh Morgan, pharmacist to Queen Elizabeth I, suggested that vanilla could have other uses besides being a flavoring for chocolate. In 1789, Thomas Jefferson, then the U.S. ambassador to France, brought Vanilla to the U.S. from Paris along with a recipe for vanilla ice cream. His hand written recipe can be found in the Library of Congress.

          Many attempts were made to grow vanilla outside of Central America in the first three centuries after its discovery, but the orchids never bore fruit. In 1838, Charles Morren discovered that only bees of the genus Eulaema pollinated the flowers, and they could not survive outside of Mexico. Three years later a suitable method of hand pollination was discovered that allowed vanilla production to spread across the globe. In 1858, vanillin was isolated opening the way for the creation of artificial vanilla.

 Posted by Nate Tschaenn

        I’m sure many a Clevelander is affected in some way by the lack of sunlight during the winter months. Even working in a glasshouse, I still miss the full effect of the summer sun .  This time of year the Eleanor Armstrong Smith Glasshouse is still dark for the first hour that I am at work every morning, and even on the few days that it is not completely overcast, the light intensity is still noticeably less than in summer. Looking around the Costa Rica biome in which I work, it is apparent that I am not the only one missing the summer sun.

 Even the warm, wet, tropical growing environment does not spare the Costa Rica biome from plant dormancy. Plants respond to the reduction in sunlight and slow down their growth or stop altogether. Some trees will lose many or all of their leaves for a couple of months. Some plants even disappear from exhibit all together this time of the year and return again in spring when conditions are more favorable. This is the case with Maranta arundinacea or arrowroot.

    Arrowroot is the first plant to go completely dormant and has been hiding underground waiting for spring for several weeks now. New growth will reemerge in spring from rhizomes and tubers produced during the growing season. The tubers resemble white carrots and can be made into arrowroot powder, which is used in cooking.

    Heliconias, calatheas, ginger (Costus), and a number of gesneriads also produce rhizomes. Although most of them don’t go completely dormant, there is a definite lack of growth and a number of yellowing leaves before new shoots begin to grow from the rhizomes in spring.

Arrowroot tubers	Diastema comiferum	Scaly rhizomes of dormant Diastema

          This time of year corresponds with the dry season in Costa Rica. The rainforests are not as green at this time of the year but the canopy opens up, the orchids are blooming and also more visible, and many of the trees will bloom during this time, some while they are completely leafless.  

            Even though there may not be as many leafy greens in the Costa Rican exhibit as during the summer,  it is still an excellent escape from the cold winter weather. Even while some plants go dormant others come into bloom this time of the year, particularly orchids. You certainly don’t want to miss OrchidMania in March or our amaryllis display going on now.

Here are a few pics of plants in bloom right now:

This sleepy mallow, Malvaviscus arboreus, gets its name from the flowers which never quite open all the way.	This blooming browmeliad is filling in for a dormant arrowroot.	One of my favorite gesneriads, this Kohleria spicata, produces long spikes of red flowers.
Oncidium ‘Twinkle’ - This extremely fragrant orchid can be found blooming throughout the exhibit this time of year.	Panama rose, Rondeletia leucophylla- This shrub is my favorite winter bloomer. Blooms heavily for months starting in late December.	Laelia anceps - The first of several laelia orchids to start blooming this season.

Posted by Nate Tschaenn

    At just under two years old,  this kapok tree, Ceiba pentandra, already stands an astonishing 15 feet and 6 inches in height.  I planted the tree myself in October, 2007 from a seed less than a half centimeter wide. It didn’t grow very much that first winter, but once spring came, it really took off and was taller than me by the end of the year. The following spring it produced a few flowers. Can you imagine growing a tree to flowering size in one year?  Eventually, it grew so tall that I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to get it through the doors of the exhibit if I waited any longer to plant it. 

     The kapok tree is not just a extremely fast-growing, large tree. It’s like the king of the rainforest trees and is the tallest tree in the Amazon rainforest. It towers above other rainforest trees, growing above the canopy into the emergent layer and reaching heights over 200 feet. Because of its size and immense buttress roots, the kapok was considered a sacred tree by many indigenous people of tropical America. The ancient Mayans believed that the kapok held up the heavens with its branches and that its roots extended into the underworld.  A lone kapok tree can often be found standing where all other trees have been cut down because of these beliefs.

     Our kapok tree is planted on the left side of the path, near the entrance just before the leaf-cutter ant log.  I predict the incredible growth spurt will continue next year, now that the tree is planted. Unfortunately, it will never get near its full height with a glass ceiling that is 60 feet high, a mere quarter of its potential maximum height!

Posted by Nate Tschaenn

Rarely do people at work ask me if something is bothering me. Rather, I’m often told I’m way too happy in the morning. Yes, I might just be a happy kind of person, but I also work in an ideal setting: one surrounded by and filled with plants. This might not seem like an ideal setting for someone allergic to all trees, pollen and grasses known to mankind, but, when properly medicated, it really is. Research shows that working with plants decreases blood pressure, eases stress, and generally makes you feel better. We can probably all agree that working in our gardens does make us feel better (after the Advil has kicked in that night). But the benefits of working with plants also hold true indoors. There are studies of indoor plants filtering indoor air pollution, increasing oxygen and humidity levels, and making indoor spaces more comfortable. Considering my office is surrounded by the most luscious 10 acres I’ve ever seen as well as a Glasshouse crammed full of botanical lovelies, I really don’t have a choice as to whether I’m happy or in a good mood when I come to work. It’s all science. Next time you are feeling blue, my advice: prune your roses, deadhead your petunias, water your jade plant or talk to your Christmas cactus. Cheaper than a therapist and a whole lot more fun.

 Hidden Gems of the Rainforest

     Well, they’re not really hidden. I do what I can to make them as visible as possible, but there’s a lot going on in the Costa Rica Glasshouse, and these small gems may be overlooked by you — our guests!

     Among the most unfortunate victims of their own small size are the miniature orchids of the genus Restrepia. The flowers of these orchids measure at a mere centimeter’s width, but have such striking detail that they are among the most beautiful of all the orchids.  The restrepia orchids bloom on an off throughout the year, and there have been a few recent additions to the collection to increase the chances of having at least one in bloom at any given time. Restrepias, with new wooden labels, can be found on the end of the leaf cutter ant log and on two ‘fallen’ branches in the exhibit along with some other ultra-miniature orchids worth noting from the genera Stelis, Pleurothallis, and Maxillaria.

 Take a close look for some more of these hidden gems, and don’t forget the macro lens.

Columnea schideana (above) has a flower often compared to stained glass and grows as a trailing epiphyte.
	The festive spotted flowers of Sinningia guttata. (above)
		Spotted kohleria flower.
	Fuzzy leaf of Kohleria trianae with red edge (above)	Episcia ‘Suomi’ (above) is an attractive groundcover.

Posted by Nate Tschaenn

Newly blooming in the Costa Rica Glasshouse is a fabulous orchid called Stanhopea gibbosa. It has no common name that I can find, so we use the Latin one. Stanhopea orchids are unique in that the flowers hang below the foliage, unlike more common orchids such as Phalaenopsis and Cattleya hybrids. The pendulous flowers bloom in the summer. In its native region of Central America, you can find them attached to large trees in the tropical, humid rainforests.

What’s most unique about S. gibbosa is its fragrance. If you ask 100 people what they think it smells like, you’ll get 100 different answers! There is little agreement even among the horticulture staff here at the Garden. Personally, I think it smells like menthol, similar to the frangrance of Vicks VapoRub. Nate Tschaenn, one of our Glasshouse specialists, thinks it smells like chocolate mint. And in doing a quick internet search, I found others suggest this orchid has a strong vanilla scent. Steven Frowine, the author of  Fragrant Orchids, writes that other Stanhopea species smell like jasmine and cinnamon.

So, which is it? Orchid fragrances are so chemically complex, and human scent so subjective, that all of the above are likely to be true. There are even some very exotic and difficult-to-find perfumes based on orchid fragrances.

So, stop in soon because these orchid flowers only last a few days and take in the heady scents of one of our most unique orchids!

The plantings in the Eleanor Armstrong Smith Glasshouse are, for the most part, permanent — meaning that we don’t rotate plants in and out of the beds very often. Still, plants are added to the exhibit when space and light is available and when plants are removed for various reasons. Occasionally, entire areas are in need of a makeover and get renovated. This summer’s big renovation area was what we call the pupae bed and is located on the right side of the path between the chrysalis case and the lower exit.

Pupae bed before

     The majority of the space was formally occupied by a large, scraggly cane palm that served largely to obscure the concrete wall and supports behind it. It was of little value. I’m a fan of sloping beds, so after the palm and some of the dieffenbachia were removed, I piled up soil as high as I could against the back wall, sloped it down to the front of the bed, and placed some stones to hold it all in. Then, the bed was ready for planting with some more attractive and interesting plants.

Here are a few of the new plant additions:

Close up of Anthurium crystallinum. The white areas around the veins sparkle like crystals.	This anthurium has fairly large heart shapped leaves and can spread over a large area.

Calathea lancifolia is among the most interesting foliage plants, with interesting, patterned leaves that are dark red underneath.	The flowers of the odd aroid Spathicarpa saggitifolia resemble a caterpillar crawling on a leaf — earning it the nickname, "caterpillar plant."

     More flowering plants will be added to this area when they have grown large enough to be planted. The plants and vines will also need a chance to grow in. Here is what the bed looks like for now:

     One of the benefits tof being a glasshouse specialist that is not listed in my employee handbook is the opportunity to sample a variety of  fruits from the many tropical fruit trees growing in the Costa Rica biome. I’m a big fan of tropical fruits and of free food, so I consider myself lucky. Here are a few of my favorites growing here in the glasshouse.

Peanut Butter Fruit- Bunchosia argentea

    The peanut butter fruit is currently in bloom with, hopefully, a good fruit set to follow. Fruits are orange to red and approximately 11/2 to 2 inches long with a very thin skin. The pulpy inside of the fruit smells and tastes like peanut butter and honey.

 Solanum pseudolulo

This plant is a member of the large and diverse genus containing tomatoes, eggplants, and potatoes, as well as the deadly nightshades. The hairs covering the outside of the fruit can be rubbed off under running water. The texture of the fruit is like a tough-skinned tomato, and it tastes something like an orange with the texture of a tomato. The flowers are specially pollinated by bees. The vibration of the bees wings cause pollen to be released from the stigmas. Since we have no bees in the  glasshouse, I have to act as the bee and release pollen by flicking the stigmas with my finger and transferring it to the pistols in order to get any fruit.

Jabitocaba- Myrciaria cauliflora

This is a small tree with beautiful, smooth, multicolored bark. The fruit and flowers are cauliflorous, meaning they grow directly from woody trunks or stems instead of from the new growth, hence the cauliflora in the Latin name. Round green fruits appear shortly after flowering and grow quickly, turning black when ripe. The fruit is much like a muscadine, which is a very thick skinned grape, but much sweeter like a concord grape and with an odd texture to the pulp. A very attractive tree, especially when the stems are covered in fruit.

    There are quite a few more interesting fruits on display that I could share, such as  like the blackberry jam fruit and ice cream bean, which both taste like their name suggests. Maybe I will blog about some more in the future, but in the meantime why not come and check them out for yourself? Nearly all of the fruit trees are now specially labeled with hand painted, wooden signs.

    The bad news about our tropical trees is that I am unable to grow enough of any fruit to hand out samples to the public. But the good news is that many interesting tropical fruits will grow and fruit in pots as patio plants during the summer and houseplants during the winter. The really good news is that with all the new cultivars being introduced, you can grow more tropical fruits at home than ever. Plants cultivars are being introduced that are smaller and more compact, self-pollinating, slower-growing, heavier-fruiting, and even cold hardy. Dwarf cultivars of plants that may have been too large to keep as a houseplant, such as bananas, guavas, pomegranates, lemons, and oranges, are now available. There is even a cultivar of papaya that produces full-size fruit at only three feet tall!