I am Joe and my job has been to try and photograph out smallest orchid flowers. This Oberonia is possibly our smallest flowered orchid.
We have it named as Oberonia helferi and it is found in Myanmar and Thailand.
It is time to vote for your favourite orchid from the past seven days. Winning orchids will go forward to Orchid of the month and then orchid of the year. (result on Monday)
Our names are Eleanor and Tabby (heads of cool america), and we are telling you about Dracula bella. In latin Dracula Bella means the beautiful Dracula. This amazing plant is a bright reddish pink colour with a bright white lip. This deceiving orchid tricks fungus gnats into laying its eggs on it by creating a fake fungi thus the gnats unknowingly pollinate Dracula! We have to grow it in a basket as the flower grows downwards this is a good tip if you are growing them at home. This orchid is one of the most interesting of all the orchids in the green houses.
This second photo shows the same flower side on.
Oh, don’t forget that tomorrow will be your chance to vote for orchid of the week.
Hello my name is Edward. This is me in Warm America holding Barkeria skinneri in full flower. My research shows that this plant comes from Mexico and grows on oak trees in tropical and deciduous rain forests.
In this close up you can see the white area on the lip, this is were the butterfly lands to pollenate the flower. In the greenhouse Barkeria skinneri grows on a large piece of cork bark so that its roots hang out in the air. It grows its new shoots in the summer and flowers during the winter.
We are now into our second week of 365 days of orchids and to add to the diversity here is our wonderful bright pink clone of Phalaenopsis violacea. This Malaysian species has been used heavily in breeding long lasting colourful hybrids and you can see why. The species produces flowers successively on a spike over many months and so this could appear anywhere in our 365 days but today it is looking particularly bright in the winter light.
We grow this plant in Warm Asia (min 16C) in a basket for good drainage but watered frequently. The plant has enjoyed being repotted recently by Jacob.