Thursday, October 21, 2010

Pretty picture: Epidendrum Moon Valley


Not sure I'm entirely pleased with how these pictures turned out, but I'm not sure why. Perhaps I'm feeling the lack of a wide, whole-plant shot. (Nothing I can do about that now, alas; I have to work with the photos I took in March, and if memory serves, I was feeling a bit rushed that day, because I was worried that the batteries would die on me.)


I have zero direct experience with Epidendrum; we never had them at work. In fact, I think the orchid show at Wallace's that these pictures come from is the only time I've ever seen them in person at all. It's possible that I may have seen hybrids with some Epidendrum ancestry at work; wikiposedly they hybridize with other genera in the Cattleya Alliance.


I'm also nearly positive that I've seen pictures of Epidendrums being grown outdoors, on some blog or another, but I couldn't find it. A few of them are sufficiently cold-tolerant to be grown in the warmer areas of the U.S.


6 comments:

Liza said...

What is it about orchid flowers? You see them in real life and you're like, "oh, so pretty," but then you see them in a picture and you're like, "meh"?

Peter said...

We grow them outside in Berkeley. Orange and purple ones.

http://www.cactusjungle.com/plant_pages/epidendrum_ibaguense.htm

Coelus said...

Liza,

It's the shape and structure of orchid flowers that makes them so striking. I think photos just can't convey the sense of depth you get when seeing them in person. Hmmm... maybe some 3D photos of orchids are in order to test my theory. ;)

Dave

Unknown said...

I love orchid flower photographs, but I can understand why you'd be not entirely pleased with the photo. Still and all, it's a gorgeous, delectable colour and an interesting structured flower. No orchids outdoors these days here in NS...

Paul said...

Many Epis are commonly grown as garden plants in California and the other southern states. Many types can get quite tall as they have a vertical grown habit rather than a wide, sprawling one. They also tend to bloom for long periods of time.

It does take some work to get really nice orchid photos, and even then, up close and in person is better.

Unknown said...

My mum has the orange, yellow, and the red. She plants them outside, in her garden in big pots where they receive full sunlight most part of the day. The tend to grow and multiply so much that at some point it seems as if they were a plague! So far, they have proven to be wuite easy plants to have (a friend has them in her house, much colder habitat, plus she's not much of a plant person and they're doing great) and beautiful decoration, provided you have the space for it!