Our team in ‘Cool Asia’ are really enjoying being surrounded by the Dendrobium speciosum this week. This magnificent orchid is native to Australia.   Its aboriginal name is “Tar-Beri” and it is also known as the “Rock Lily”. When in flower it is one of our largest orchids measuring nearly 2m across with many hundred lovely […]

This delightful small growing species is endemic to Sumatra where it grows from 1550 to 3050m. This is the first flowering of a seedling plant with small dark pseudobulbs which are thin at the base and thicker near the end where they flower. We grow the species in our Warm Asia section but in light […]

Thanks for Kirsty’s comment on Maxillaria sophronitis about humming birds. In 2000 on our first visit to Brazil students took this lovely photograph of a humming bird visiting Cattleya wittigiana. Students recorded six species visiting the flowers but only one species of hummingbirds removing pollen.  

This lovely Oncidium is new to 365 days as the plant we have had for many years was divided a couple of years ago and is now back to flowering size. Oncidium maculatum is native to Mexico and Central America where it grows in wet forests from 1000 to 2000m altitude. This habitat suggests it […]

Maxillaria sophronitis is a humming bird pollinated species from wet forests in Colombia and Venezuela. It is found from 750m to 1500m altitude and so we grow it in our Cool America section. We have two very distinct clones of this species. The one in flower now is small growing with 4cm leaves and 1cm […]