Stelis brunnea is an orchid that produces a mass of small creamy white flowers at this time of year. In total we have twenty five Stelis species at school and lots of them produce a great display to show just how rewarding these small flowered species from South and Central America are. This species comes […]

We know that May is here when our Coelogyne nitidas start to flower. This pretty, fragrant orchid is one we have seen growing abundantly in the Hiamlayas and its flowering is always a treat. We have two distinct clones of this lovely orchid, Coelogyne nitida ‘limoniana’ (above) with a very light yellow blotch on the […]

In contrast to yesterday’s grand Guarianthe skinneri we have one of our favourite mini-miniature orchids today. The plant shown is close to filling its 8cm basket and produces a multitude of little starry flowers about 2mm across from the bright green 2cm leaves. Does anyone fancy counting the flowers? There are 39 flower spikes this […]

Today the lovely flowers of Guarianthe skinneri var. alba oculata has joined the mass flowers in our Warm Americas Section. Guarianthe skinneri is national flower of Costa Rica and a species we have seen growing in tall trees in open forests around 800m with plants on the tops of thick branches in very exposed positions […]

Continuing with Masdevallias, today we have possibly the most dramatic of all Masdevallia veitchiana. The flowers look orange and red but this colour is actually made from the flowers combination of a yellow ground and tiny raised pink warts – a clever trick. This species is endemic to Peru where it grows between 2000m and […]