I just had to share this with you.
Now that the monsoons have withdrawn from Mumbai, it's as good as raining orchids here. The other day I came across some more of my blooming orchids that I wish I had shared with you in my previous post Orchids - Tie them up!
This Dendrobium orchid in the photo above, is growing on a Teak tree. The banana fibre that tied it on to the tree has long gone and now the roots are clambering all over the rough bark of the tree.
The Teak tree is also one of those made-for-orchids trees. Tall, with rough bark, and since we keep the lower half of the tree-trunk clear of branches, it gets plenty of flower-inducing sunlight. Perfect! Its almost like an incidental bonus that it could give timber for a lot of lovely furniture in about 20 years time.
Another favourite 'made-for-orchids' tree is the coconut tree.
The coconut tree in the photo above featured in my previous post too but I think this is a slightly better photo, right?
Want a closer look?
Its called Dendrobium Yupadeewan. I think... I lost all the tags back in the days when I didnt know better. But after checking up on some sites, I'm quite sure thats what this beauty is called. This is one of my most reliable 'show-off orchids'. Extra-long spikes with plenty of blooms and oh, such a breathtakingly gorgeous combination of colours which the camera just couldnt capture!
The orchids in the photo below are grown on another Teak tree ( yes, I do have a few of them. I did tell you that I wanted beautiful furniture, didnt I ? )
The small purple coloured orchid is one of the most prolific blooming ones I've ever seen. Each plant has about 10 - 15 blooming spikes cascading down. Now why on earth didn't I click a photo showing all of it? Next time, I promise.
The white one on the left is Den.Emma White, another of those very prolific-blooming orchids. There's something so pure and serene about it, isnt there?
I thought I would leave you with this photo today. Something to make you really consider adding dendrobiums to your must-have list, if you havent already put them in.
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Sunita, your orchids are glorious! How I'd love to be able to grow them outside like you do.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful colors! Thanks for sharing these wonderful blooms.
Kerri, maybe you could grow them on a small log or piece of driftwood so you can take them out in the summer and bring it indoors when it starts getting cold.
ReplyDeleteYour orchids are amazing- even the trees in your blog sound exotic!
ReplyDeleteThanks Dee! Though I'd love to have one of those maple trees changing colour in my garden right now.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend, Orrin, in Arizona who grows amazing Slipper Orchids. So maybe you could try growing them too?
THese orchids are so dreamy. COngratulations on growing them. I'm glad Raji guided me to your blog. Thanks for visitng me! Cheers!
ReplyDeleteHi Gardenia! Its so good to see you here. I dont know if I'm way off base here, but I equate tea plantations with surrounding forest land. Does that hold true for you too? If so, then I half envy you (yeah, just half) for your proximity to a lot of wild orchids that most people (orchidists, at least!) would kill to grow!
ReplyDeleteRaji has this wonderful knack of writing about things one has either forgotten about or tends to take for granted. She also seems to have this very warm, friendly approach which makes one want to keep returning to her blog ... much like a bunch of friends sitting around a table with tea and snacks and gossip!