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 […]

Are masdevallia species have featured heavily lately and as May approaches we have the splendour of Masdevallia coccinea. Masdevallia coccinea is a very rewarding species and produces masses of large brightly coloured flowers in a range of colours including white, yellow, red and pink. It comes from Colombia and Peru where it grows in cool […]

Today’s Sobralia is even bigger than yesterday’s Sobralia macrantha with caned up to 3m long. The species is native to Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia, where it grows as a terrestrial or epiphyte, produces its thin canes about 3m long, and in late spring these large (15cm across) flowers that last about two days. This […]