This wonderful orchid has been in flower since December and with 12 flower spikes will still be in flower at the end of May.   We have had this species at Writhlington since 1996 and it is always a special time when plants come into flower. Our largest plant has ten spikes but for the […]

We have some really spectacular orchids out in flower but few can match the splendour of this Central American species. Epidendrum parkinsonianum is a species we are particularly fond of, since finding it in the volcanic mountains of Costa Rica, and over the past 20 years, growing this wonderful specimen in our Cool Americas Section. […]

We have a wonderful species for you today. This miniature member of the Cattleya family is a mass of flowers every April and a reminder of the remarkable orchids of the Mata Atlantica, Brazil. Leptotes bicolor is one of the species we found during our expeditions to Brazil in 2000 and 2006. We observed it […]

April sun brings real warmth to the greenhouse and the higher temperatures lead to a heady scents from our fragrant orchids, and our Warm Asia section is currently filled with the delicious scent of this giant Vanda species.   The plant is now over 2m tall with large flower spikes of beautiful waxy flowers, and a […]

Todays sad news has reminded me of our meeting with Prince Philip in 2004, at the RHS anniversary show. He was great with students Chris and Callum, reflecting his commitment to young people, and declared the orchid project “Marvellous”. He will be greatly missed.