BEAUTIFUL BLOOMS: The diversity and complexity of orchids

Orchids. They’re beautiful. So many varieties and so misunderstood.

These exquisite flowers are the topic for this week’s Beautiful Blooms – mainly because two of our readers emailed absolutely gorgeous pictures of their orchids and we wanted to share them with you right away.

We know that many folks believe orchids are difficult to grow. If you have a green thumb and enjoy filling your house and gardens with Beautiful Blooms, you know that’s just not true. My mom used to tell me that orchids are the easiest plant to grow – even I could grow stunning specimens. Why? Because I could forget to water them for a week and that would be perfect for them.

Actually, the American Orchid Society, says with more than 30,000 different species, including about 200,000 hybrids, orchids are found in extremely diverse environmental conditions around the globe – from the “equatorial tropics, the arctic tundra and everywhere in between. The reason for this diversity lies in the orchid’s amazing ability to adapt to its given environment.”

I like diversity – especially when a living thing adjusts to me!

Debbie Fugate of Port Orange, a regular contributor to Beautiful Blooms, emailed us to say she has several orchids, but only one that she keeps outside.

“I have it hanging underneath a tree so that it gets filtered light,” she wrote. “It’s called a Dancing Lady. The blooms look like fiesta dancers. I’ve had this orchid for several years and it always blooms in September.”

Meanwhile, Julie Gabriel, also of Port Orange, sent in several pictures of different orchids she has growing outside – one in particular that adorns her oak tree.

“On a whim I thought I’d see if I could grow one of my dendrobiums in the oak tree, and rather quickly it took root,” she wrote. “I had a larger white one, but Hurricane Irma took it away with her. This one is now part of the tree living a peaceful and symbiotic life!”

She also has a beautiful Dancing Lady (oncudium) orchid growing outside.

“It was mounted on a large piece of wood propped in my Maple tree,” Julie explained. “But she was knocked out during Hurricane Irma and broke apart. So she’s still recuperating in my backyard. She’s a beauty too!”

On a final note, we wanted to mention that orchids also are falsely accused of being toxic to our four-legged family members. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), there are a wide variety of orchid species that are non-toxic to dogs, cats and even horses. There are some varieties, however, that may cause a stomach ache, vomiting or diarrhea, but they are not deadly.

For a list of non-toxic and toxic plants so our pets and plants may coexist, visit aspca.org/pet-care.

As for Beautiful Blooms … we love that you keep sending them in, so keep them coming! We try to post all the photos sent in each week on our website at news-journalonline.com. Seeing your Beautiful Blooms in print may take a little longer due to space constraints, but we’ll keep posting your blooms here and in print as long as you keep sending them.

— To submit Beautiful Blooms, email features@news-jrnl.com. Include your name, city and don’t forget to tell us about your blooms. Photos must be high resolution (at least 1MB) and emailed as a .jpg attachment.