This gorgeous miniature orchid with large flowers is the latest Aerangis species to open it flowers. Looking back the Autumn and winter have given us six Aerangis species including this one and these demonstrate the diversity of form present in the genus despite the limited colour palette. Here are Aerangis verdickii, luteo-alba, arachnopus, biloba and […]

  It is a really wet morning – great for filling our rainwater tank after quite a dry winter. Out of the weather the greenhouse air is sweet with the scent of Zygopetalum. We have seen this Zygopetalum maculatum growing in Brazil at around 1200m altitude in road banks in the mountains and as a […]

Our ‘Best ion Show’ this week is definately this wonderful specimen of Pholidota chinensis. This lovely free flowering orchid is native to warm forests in Southern China and Vietnam where it experience a wet summer monsoon and a cooler dryer winter when it flowers. We find it enjoys warm temperatures in Warm Asia and although we […]

  Today we are enjoying another of our February regulars – The wonderful Brazilian species Sophronitella violacea. Sophronitella violacea is native to Organ Mountains in Brazil where it grows in forests around 1000m and its flowers are 2.5cm across which is really rather large for this tiny species with 2cm pseudobulbs each topped by a […]

Today our students have been enjoying our wonderful Ansellia africana. This wonderful plant is a star of BBC’s Green Planet episode one – so do pop over to BBC iPlayer and watch last year’s flowers dance as they open (it is at the end of minute 4). Seeing this orchid flowering reminds me of our […]