Text and photographs are © by Ellen Spector Platt & Ellen Zachos, all rights reserved.


Sunday, February 6, 2011

the antidote to a New York City winter








snow
ice
gray slush
cancelled flights
frozen nose hairs
life in general










It's the perfect time of year for an NYC garden writer to immerse herself in the saturated colors and scintillating perfumes of the tropics...especially if she's working on a new orchid book. So I thought I'd share a few blooms with you, all of which are currently lighting up my life at clients' greenhouses in the Bronx. I realize photos aren't quite as thrilling actually caressing the soft petals, breathing in the scent, and tasting the nectar (yes, I do that) of these beauties, but I hope their jewel tones offer up a much-needed contrast with the gray snow that surrounds us. And the crazy names ought to be good for a laugh.

Brassolaeliacattleya Haadyai Delight 'Bang Prom Gold' x Blc. Krull's Lemonade


Laeliacattleya Tropical Pointer 'Cheetah'


Potinara Little Toshie 'Mini Flares'


Brassocattleya Maikai 'Lea' x Cattleya Triumph #2


Laeliacattleya Hawaiian Blue Sky 'Chelsea' Lc. Mini Purple var. coerulea


Dendrobium Aussie Chip


Brassolaileocattleya Orange Show 'Cloud Forest'


Cattleya walkeriana


Tolumnia Red Berry


a phal/antelope type Dendrobium

For those of you who can't escape to the beauty and calm of a private greenhouse, don't forget, the NYBG orchid show starts on March 5 and runs through April 25. Put it on your calendar.

3 comments:

Hilda M. Morrill said...

A new orchid book! How wonderful. Thank you for the beautiful images to enchant us as we wait (and as the snow melts).
Heard that there is a new "true" blue orchid. True?
Best regards, Hilda

Ellen Zachos said...

You're probably thinking of Phal. Blue Mystique which was just introduced at TPIE last month. To say I dislike this flower is a gross understatement, but then again, I shouldn't be mad at the plant since the growers are responsible for this debacle. They describe it as getting the color through a patented process, not through hybridization or painting. They say that future flowers on the stem will also be blue. The fine print admits that when the Phal re-blooms (on a new stem), the flowers will be white. As for the patented process...maybe. But we've all seen enough blue carnations to know how this works. If the life of my cat depended on it I'd buy one of these, but under normal circumstances...no way!

meemsnyc said...

Those orchids are such a pleasant sight for this wretched winter we are having. They are stunning!


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