Right outside my office window, I’m lucky to have the Chinese Ground Orchid, Beltilla striata, poking its pretty pink head out of the lush foliage. This particular orchid is unlike the orchids you see at different retailers in that it is terrestrial (it grows in the ground) rather than an epiphyte (one that grows on trees) as most orchids are. The flower, which can be pink or white (variety ‘alba’) is very similar to a miniature Cattleya flower.

Chinese Ground Orchids have a light, pleasant fragrance and can naturalize if given the right growing conditions. We grow them in a protected valley-like area here where they are in part shade almost all day. Because zone 5 is the border of their natural growing climate, you’ll need to mulch them in for the winter to protect them from the extreme cold. They like rich, organic soil and need to be fairly moist throughout the summer. Given these conditions, you’ll be rewarded with a over a month of blooms in the early summer! Enjoy!

Posted by Cynthia Druckenbrod

If you haven’t been in the Glasshouse recently, then you haven’t seen the new growth on many of the trees and herbaceous plants, especially in the Costa Rica biome. Plants respond very quickly in a greenhouse when the day length begins to increase this time of year. Numerous orchids come into bloom; many butterfly nectar plants (Hamelia sp., Lantana sp.) have new flushes and some of our fruit trees (avocados) bloom profusely. We also prune some of the fastest-growing trees (Cecropia sp. and Inga sp.). It always amazes me how fast-growing many tropical plants are. My philosophy has been to maintain the biomes as naturally as possible and not in the neat, antiseptic way that many conservatories display plants. Having neat, orderly rows of plants is not a realistic reflection of a rain forest. If you’ve ever been to a tropical forest, you know what it looks like: a beautiful, chaotic conflagration of all things living. That is what I strive to show our visitors. If you want to see leaf-shined plants arranged in an orderly fashion, go to the mall. Real paradise is yours to enjoy at the Garden.

Posted By Cynthia Druckenbrod

Plain Dealer Night Picture Editor Jon Fobes has another wonderful Orchid Mania slideshow, featuring several stunning images from this year’s orchid show.

Mimicry in nature is a fascinating phenomenon. It’s well known that certain butterflies deter predators by resembling other bitter-tasting or poisonous butterflies. It’s slightly less common knowledge that many orchid flowers lure pollinating insects by “tricking” them with the appearance of offering nectar, homes for their eggs, or even a mate of the opposite sex.

One of the most visually arresting examples of orchid mimicry is offered by the Central American Reed Orchid, Epidendrum radicans (pictured bottom left). These bright red and yellow flowers look so much like the Tropical Milkweed, Asclepias curassavica (pictured top left), it’s hard to believe that the two plants are completely unrelated. They are often found growing in the same environments.                     

Butterflies and hummingbirds are both drawn to brightly colored flowers, with a special preference for the colors red and orange. Hovering birds and delicate butterflies need flowers that provide easy access without obstacles to their wings. They also require abundant nectar to fuel their constant motion. The tropical milkweed satisfies on all counts, while the orchid has the bright colors and accessible flowers, but is stingier with its nectar. The orchids get pollinated without expending all their energy on nectar production.  There are thousands of different orchid species with unique and fascinating pollination strategies. Many of these are yet to be discovered and described.  
 

Everyone gets it around here. Each year I think I’ve developed a little immunity, or at least enough tolerance to act cool when the orchids start showing up for the annual Orchid Mania exhibit. But I’m caught up in the delirium every time, oohing and aahing over the dizzying variety of shapes, patterns, and fragrances. Even the bland, rounded petals of common moth orchids (Phalaenopsis) charm me again with subtle little variations between pale pink and rose-stained, dappled, striped, water-marked with primrose yellow, and jutting curlicued fuchsia lips.

Once I’ve gotten over the sheer impact of so many  flowers, the next phase sets in: Covetousness. Although it’s quite possible to maintain a collection of orchids in windowsills and under lights (many people do it!), you have to have the chronic form of orchid fever to devote yourself to doing it well. I have a handful of durable little orchids at home, but there’s really not a lot of room for more.

The solution for me is to collect with a camera. Digital photography makes it wildly easy to capture flowers in full color and stunning detail. I don’t need to be that good a photographer to collect a greenhouse full of images.  They bloom with the click of a mouse, I don’t have to water them, and I can keep them on my desktop, where pretty much everything else has withered and died. Only the fragrance is left to memory (more about fragrance, flowers, and memory some other time.)

Posted by Ann McCulloh

For Orchid Mania, we have many varieties of fragrant orchids on display this year. For the first time, we have an orchid called Rhynchostylis (pictured left), aka the foxtail orchid. Its inflorescence is packed tightly with pink, red or white flowers almost resembling a hyacinth. It has a very sweet, citrusy scent that at first I couldn’t place. I wasn’t even convinced that I liked the fragrance. But then my husband said it reminded him of the scent of Osage-Orange fruit, also known as Mock Orange (but the slang is much more fun: monkey brains). Since then, every time I walk by Rhynchostylis, I have to smell it, because it has one of the most unique orchid scents. Another orchid that has a delicious scent is the so called chocolate orchid - Oncidium Sharry Baby. We’ll have a number of these orchids on display for your smelling pleasure!

Posted by Cynthia Druckenbrod                                                      

As I mentioned yesterday, I was recently at the World Orchid Conference in Miami, FL. There were dozens of orchid vendors there from around the world selling their orchids. I noticed that the growers from Taiwan and other tropical countries priced their orchids lower than those vendors from the U.S. Why is this? Growers in the tropics have lower energy and labor costs and can therefore charge less for their plants. I sometimes hear the frustrations concerning this issue from local orchid growers in Cleveland. How can they compete with massive orchid ranges in the tropics selling plants to big box stores in the U.S. for less than $10? Consider that when you’re buying a moth orchid from a big box store. My motto: buy locally whenever possible. You’ll not only support local jobs - you’ll probably get a better grown orchid.

Posted by Cynthia Druckenbrod

I recently read that the Phalaenopsis (Moth) Orchid is the second most popular house plant in the U.S. preceded only by the Poinsettia. And that makes perfect sense since I see Moth Orchids everywhere: the grocery store, the big box stores, garden centers, etc. What I find unfortunate is that many of these orchids are now treated as throw-away plants. Once the orchid is finished blooming, why keep it? I disagree. Moth Orchids are incredibly beautiful and easy to grow and can be kept in a typical windowsill, providing years of blooms. All you need to do is provide light from an east or west window, water once per week, sometimes twice, fertilize every other week and re-pot it every two years. If you’re not familiar with growing these orchids, that’s just another reason to come to the Garden this Feb. to learn how you can grow colorful Moth Orchids.

Posted by Cynthia Druckenbrod

All this week, we are busy preparing for our fifth annual orchid show - Orchid Mania: The Seductive Orchid. We have a different theme every year, and this year I took my inspiration from a book titled Orchid Fever: A Horticultural Tale and Love, Lust, and Lunacy by Eric Hansen. It’s a fabulous book that details how the world of orchid fanciers is a strange, wonderful and sometimes sinister place. We will have some of the orchids that Hansen mentions here at the Garden from Saturday, Feb. 9 - Sunday, March 9. This is not your typical orchid show. You’ll see orchids that you’ve never seen before, like the 12-inch long petals of Paphiopedilums (slipper orchids) and the glittering leaves of Jewel orchids. We will be showcasing orchids that have different fragrances. Some of my personal favorites are the Zygopetalums (see picture). They have a very unique, spicy scent that is just intoxicating!

Posted by Cynthia Druckenbrod