Hello, my name is Heather. I have been a part of the project for two years and dedicate time before, during and after school to it. I am in charge of Cattleya, Brassavola, Tricopillia and Barkeria. The Barkeria spectabilis recently won Orchid of  the Year. Over the next few months I will be blogging about my orchids, so keep an eye out for my blogs.

Brassavola nodosa, or ‘Lady of the Night’, is a very popular orchid and has a strong fragrance. It is native to Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and Central America. It is widely spread along the Gulf of Mexico, southwards from Tampico, so needs to be grown in warm to intermediate conditions with plenty of light. It flowers in autumn and winter and we grow it in Warm America. Our expedition to Belize found lots of this orchid growing in coastal forest and mangrove.  Brassavola nodosa was growing in full sun along with Schomburgkia tibicinis, which we also have in Warm America.