Students heading to Sarawak in tow weeks are busy familiarising themselves with the orchid species they may encounter in the forests they visit. Malaysia has a great diversity of Dendrobium species and this lovely miniature dendrobium, native to Thailand and Peninsular Malaya, grows in warm lowland forest at around 100m altitude. In this habitat it […]
As we prepare for the orchid projects next tropical expedition – Sarawak is just over two weeks away – I am reminded of our first expedition to Brazil in 2000 by this little charming little species bursting into flower in our Warm Americas section. We found Prosthechea vespa in habitat during both visits to Brazil […]
Autumn is a great time for Barkeria species in the greenhouse, and we believe that this dramatic group of Central American orchids deserve to be more widely grown. This Barkeria is found in from Mexico to Costa Rica in warm deciduous forest where it experiences a distinct dry season. It responds to the dry […]
It has been a busy week at school with year 13 Science students working hard on experimental work linked to their visits to the Kew Laboratories in the summer. This week has all been about TZ testing orchid seed viability and the results will become clear next week. All students can be really proud of […]
Today’s ‘coerulea’ is not a grey blue but the dramatic bright blue of Vanda coerulea. This dramatic species flowers several times throughout the year but is usually at is best in October. Our plant is nearly 3m tall and has five spikes of flowers. Unfortunately the attractiveness of the species has caused it to become […]