This is the first time we have featured this dramatic cool growing Mexican species. As you can see from the photo above the species produces very long branched spikes(this one is 2.5m long)with large flowers spread quite sparsely. The delicious sulfur yellow lip is really striking and has lead to this species being used successfully […]

Students in our temperate section are delighted to have their favourite cymbidium species in flower again. Cymbidium hookerianum is a fantastic charismatic species from the Himalayas and one we have seen growing and flowering in Sikkim. Cymbidium hookerianum is a really cool growing species and in Sikkim we have found it from from 1500-3000m altitude. […]

We have featured lots of Maxillarias on 365 days and this is one of our favourites. Maxillaria porphyrostele was one of the first orchids to arrive at the Writhlington School Orchid Project in the early 1990’s and it is still going strong although it has been divided many times. The species is native to cool […]

One of our favourite Paphiopedilum species is the beautifully coloured and long stemmed Paphiopedilum appletonianum. In common with most Paphiopedilum species P. appletonianum is a terrestrial, and this species grows in leaf litter and amongst boulders in warm forests from 300-1200m in South East Asia and Southern China. Plants have wonderful dark patterned leaves (almost […]

Spring is Paph time in the greenhouse and the first to flower is Paphiopedilum tonsum. This species which is native to North and Central Sumatra where it is found from 1000-1800m altitude as a terrestrial in deep humus and deep shade. We have found that the species really resents bright light and so we keep […]