Trip Report: Oklahoma Orchid Society show

I already told you about the orchid I purchased at the OOS show and sale a couple of weeks ago.  I promised pictures of the show, so here they are!  I wasn't quite as snap-happy as I can be sometimes, so the number of pictures is not overwhelming.  Just 64 decent pictures of some really nice orchids. Click on the image below.

I'm getting my photo album posted to the blog just days before attending my first OOS meeting.  When I was at the orchid show, I decided to join the OOS.  Hopefully I'll have something to post about the meeting next week.

Trip Report: MidAmerica meeting photo album

I have created a photo album of my pictures from the 3rd meeting of the MidAmerica chapter of the IAS.  The meeting was held October 30 at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens.

Enjoy!

photo album here

Trip Report: Prayer plants in the Climatron

The Climatron is a 50-year old geodesic dome that serves as a tropical greenhouse at the Missouri Botanical Gardens (MoBot).  During our Aroid meeting at the MoBot (back in April) the Climatron was closed as they were setting up a dinosaur exhibit for the next weekend.  Thankfully we got "back stage passes" into the Climatron with our staff escorts!

Outside of the Climatron

The Climatron is much like the Myriad Botanical Gardens in Oklahoma City, with which I have become very familiar.  The center is at a height of 70 feet and by my calculations, the ground space is about 24 thousand square feet.  The Climatron has many of their plant families grouped together that are more scattered in the Myriad Gardens.  For instance, there are two areas in the Climatron devoted only to Begonias and to prayer plants (Marantaceae family), respectively.  The only other venue where I have seen as many Marantaceae would be the Foster Botanical Gardens in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Some of the Marantaceae in the Climatron.

I was really excited to see this dedicated area for prayer plants, since they are my second favorite family of plants.  The greatest thing was that almost all of them were in bloom and I have only seen blooms on these plants on a couple of rare occasions.

Healthy group of Calathea albertii

The impressive species display was the Calathea albertii grouping (above and below).  These plants are obviously very happy in this growing environment, having spread out quite a bit and blooming like crazy.  I was ever so tempted to ask for an offset.

Calathea albertii in bloom

There are many colorful hybrid Calatheas sold as houseplants at Lowe's nowadays.  I think most of these are variations or hybrids based on the Calathea roseopicta species (below), which has pretty stunning color as a naturally-occurring species.

Calathea roseopicta

Calathea burle-marxii in bloom

Calathea burle-marxii (above) is the species that I have had the best success growing in my greenhouse.  My plants haven't bloomed before, but it looks like I wasn't missing out on much.  Small white flower petals emerge from an otherwise boring green bract that kind of resembles some Bromeliad bloom bracts.

Calathea fucata

Calathea fucata (above) was one of the few species that was not in bloom.  It leaves me all the more curious about what it's blooms might look like.  I guess I'll just have to go back for another visit sometime...

Calathea violacea in bloom

The plant below puzzles me a little bit.  I didn't get an ID on the plant, but comparing the leaves, it is very similar to the identified Calathea violacea (pictured above).  The blooms look different, but I am wondering if I just caught the blooms at different stages and it is the same species.  I'll try to recruit some expert Calathea help to get that question answered.

Calathea violacea? in bloom

Now Calathea zebrina (below) is one of my favorite species.  I have seen this plant a couple of times in person.  There were some beautiful specimens at the Foster Botanic Gardens that were in bloom while we were there.  The plants in the Climatron seemed monstrous in comparison, though.  The zebrina species has very velvety textured leaves with solid purple undersides.  The thick stems of these plants almost reminded me of banana trees.

Forest of tall Calathea zebrina - the tallest being 6 feet or more.

One of the most common "prayer plants" is Maranata leuconeura v. kerchoveana (below).  Okay, so it's not the easiest name, but it is one of the more common house plants from this family.  But you don't very often get to see these plants blooming in the house setting.  Obviously these plants are grown for their striking foliage, but I think the blooms are pretty neat, anyway.  Look at the closeup below.

Maranta leuconeura v. kerchoveana in bloom

Maranta leuconeura v. kerchoveana bloom closeup

Trip Report: Halifax Public Gardens

I was able to attend a meteorology conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia during the first week of June.  I had never been to Nova Scotia before and I needed to stay in the city for the week, but I was still able to get in a little sight-seeing.  Along with some historical sights, I visited the Public Gardens, which is a Victorian Garden originally established in 1867.

The gardens are well maintained and well used by locals.  I was surprised by the number of plants and trees in bloom while I was there.  As you can see in the map above, there is a large pond (including ducks) and a couple of smaller water features.  There is also a nice bandstand, which is a common music venue during the Summer.

Maple tree (Acer sp.) in the Halifax Public Gardens

Apparently the gardens were badly damaged in September 2003 by Hurricane Juan.  Many large trees were destroyed.  When I was there, the signs had all been covered over with new growth.

Rhododendron in the Halifax Public Gardens

Some of my favorite plants were the orange Maple trees (pictured above), the rhododendrons (above) and the tulip beds (below).  I also saw a planting of neat Euphorbias, which might have been 'Tiny Tim.'

Wandering Tulip bed at the Halifax Public Gardens

See my photo album by clicking the image below.

Trip Report: Foster Botanical Garden in Honolulu, Hawaii

While on vacation in Hawaii this May, my wife and I visited the Foster Botanical Garden in Honolulu.  In Oklahoma, a tropical botanical garden would necessarily reside in an enclosed structure.  Not so in Hawaii.  The only enclosed structure on the grounds of the Foster garden is to keep a group of hybrid orchids in a pristine environment, where they will not spread into the wild or cross with naturally occurring species.

The Foster Botanical Garden has a long history, dating back to 1853.  [You can read about the history here.]  The garden includes areas dedicated to orchids, hybrid orchids, Cycads, palms, bromeliads, Aroids, gingers, and Heliconias.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to see the Hybrid Orchid greenhouse because I took too long in other parts of the garden and the garden closed before I got there.

Map of Foster Botanical Garden

I would like to just give a run down of the specific sections of the garden and then point you to my photo album, which I'm sure you will enjoy! :)

Exceptional Trees

The Foster Botanical Garden has a wonderful collection of 24 "Exceptional Trees."  Exceptional Trees are those that have been designated as trees which are to be protected and cannot be cut down.  According to the legend, one of these trees is the offspring of the tree under which Buddha sat when he gained his knowledge.  You can see pictures of many of the very large trees in my photo album.  A couple of the exceptional trees are palms, of which the Foster BG has more than 100 different species.

Palms

There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of palm trees in this relatively small botanical garden.  Not being a connoisseur of palm trees, many of them look the same to me.  However, there were about 10 different species that really stuck out, including the Double Coconut Palm and the Grugru Palm.  The palm trees ranged in size from about 8 feet tall to well over 80 feet tall.  Their trunks varied from smooth to covered in spines (the Grugru palm).

Christie standing in front of a huge palm tree with spreading fronds

Cycads

On first glance, many cycads look like members of the palm family.  But they are a very different family of plants, and can grown into the subtropical and temperate zones, including Oklahoma.  These plants are displayed in the "Prehistoric Glen" of the Foster Botanical Garden.  Cycads are among the oldest trees in the world.  The individual trees themselves are not the oldest plants, but the species have been found in the fossil records dating back to the age of the dinosaurs!

Heliconias, Gingers and Marantas

The botanical order Zingiberales contains the families Heliconiaceae, Zingiberaceae and Marantaceae - which were all featured in the center terraces of the Foster BG.  Of course, I am a huge fan of plants from the Marantaceae family.  I was surprised to find many plants from this family were labeled with incomplete signs, such as "Calathea plant, Calathea sp."  It was as if they had tried to determine the species and had been unable.  I have had this problem quite often with this family of plants.  It is surprising to me that for such a beautiful group of plants, the names are not more widely known.

Calathea picturata inflorescence

There was a beautiful flowering specimen of Calathea picturata and many flowering Heliconia.  Unfortunately, many of the Gingers were not in bloom while I was there.  I did see them blooming in other parts of Hawaii though - and I brought back 5 different varieties to grow at home.

Orchids

There is a great collection of orchids, mounted on stumps and tree trunks and planted in the ground.  One of them is appropriately named "The Giant Orchid" (Grammatophyllum speciosum).  It has long, wandering stems that arch towards the ground and was probably a good 8-10 feet in diameter!

Giant orchid (Grammatophyllum speciosum)

It's simply amazing to see these plants growing outdoors.  I would never think of putting one of mine outdoors.

Odds and Ends

There are certainly some oddball plants at the Foster BG.  One of these was the Cannonball Tree (Couroupita guianensis), which has tendrils growing down it's trunk that are covered in blooms that look like orchids.  Later, very large nuts form on these tendrils that look like a large, round coconut (or a cannonball).  As they mature, they begin falling from the tree.  Weighing somewhere around 20 pounds, these large nuts can be dangerous to someone not paying attention!

Warning sign under the Cannonball Tree (Couroupita guianensis)

Another odd specimen at the garden was the Buddha's hand citrus tree (Citrus medica var. sarcodactylus).  I had seen pictures of these truly odd fruits before, but not seen one in person until I was here.

Fruit of the Buddha's-hand Citron (Citrus medica var. sarcodactylus)

To see all of my pictures from the garden (289 of them) click on the image below. Enjoy!

Trip Report: Akatsuka Orchid Gardens, Hawaii

Last week my wife and I went on vacation to Hawaii.  I wrote two posts before leaving and scheduled them to update while we were gone, so you never even knew I was out.

On our vacation, we were on the "Big" Island (Hawaii Island) for one day, in order to enjoy the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  Being the plant-obsessed person that I am, I did quite a bit of research before we left to find some plant landmarks to see along the way.  Hawaii is beautiful without having to stop by a botanical garden, but I wanted to make sure we visited a greenhouse or two while we there, as well as the natural roadside beauty I knew we would see.

Along the road from Hilo, Hawaii to the national park is a commercial orchid grower, Akatsuka Orchid Gardens.  I was really excited about stopping by this grower on our drive, because the website said that they have a showroom open during the day where you can view many of their orchids, and that they also allow you to wander around their greenhouses on a self-guided tour.  Frankly, I couldn't wait to do this!

And I was not disappointed.  Christie was pretty tired the morning that we flew into Hilo, so she leaned back the seat in the rental car and took a little nap while I wandered around snapping pictures of orchids for about 30 minutes or so.  Then she came in and walked around with me for another 30 minutes and helped me pick out the coolest and most affordable two plants to take home with me!

Zygonisia Cynosure 'Blue Birds' - one of the plants I brought home with me.

The color of this Zygo really caught Christie and me both.  We picked out a very healthy looking plant that had about 15 buds on it - none of them open.  By the time we got home (6 days later) there were 5 or 6 buds open.  It is a gorgeous orchid.  Like nearly all orchids in captivity, it is a hybrid.  This particular orchid is an intergeneric hybrid, which means it is a cross between two different genera - Zygopetalum and Aganisia.

Group of Masdevallias.  I took home a Masdevallia velifera x. deformis, which is one of the plants in the left center, with clumps of smaller and darker leaves.

The other plant I purchased is hard to pick out in this image.  It is one of the smaller plants, with darker leaves in the left half of the image, but near the center.  The blooms are born on shorter stalks than most of the blooms in the image, but they look much the same.  It is an interspecific hybrid, which means that it was created by crossing two species within the same genus - Masdevallia velifera and Masdevallia deformis.

The rest of my pictures can be found in my album, available by clicking the image below. Enjoy!

Trip Report: Spring Festival at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens

Last weekend my wife and I drove down to Fort Worth, Texas to visit the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens for their annual Spring Festival.  The festival is held in one of their prized gardens: The Japanese Gardens.

Bridge in the Japanese Garden

For this post, I have chosen just a small selection of 21 pictures from the 300 photographs that I took on Saturday.  There is a link at the bottom of this post to my full photo album, which I hope you'll view, whenever you have time.

One of about 8 structures in the Japanese gardens

The FWBG is a large complex of gardens, including a conservatory of tropical plants, rose gardens, tree groves, Texas natives, production and exhibition greenhouses, water gardens, a cactus garden and many others.  The Japanese Garden alone is 7 acres, while only being a small portion of the grounds.

Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) with pink seeds above branches

Rock garden in the Japanese Garden

The Japanese Gardens are kept by only 3 gardens and a host of volunteers.  I simply can't believe the amount of work that lies in front of those 3 workers everyday.  The grounds are well manicured and a wonderful place to stroll and relax.  I have to admit I spent the whole time snapping pictures, though.  I guess I'll have to go back for another visit.

Striking foliage and berries of Japanese Mahonia in the Japanese Gardens

Traditional Japanese dancers performing at the Spring Festival

For the Spring Festival, there are events throughout the day, including traditional Japanese dancers, Japanese flower arranging, bonsai exhibits and other crafts (such as origami).

Dutch Iris Ikebana - the art of Japanese flower arranging

Drooping Bonsai tree on exhibit at the Spring Festival

I was most excited about seeing the Japanese Gardens, the Conservatory and one of the greenhouses - the Begonia Species Bank.

Curator and collection of the Begonia Species Bank at FW Botanic Gardens

The Begonia Species Bank was created to prevent the loss of Begonia species.  Since Begonias are very common houseplants, the true, natural species are at risk of being lost to all of the hybrids that have been created for our viewing pleasure.  The FWBG Begonia Bank is a large collection of Begonias as well as a library and source of information on this very popular plant genus.

Rex Begonia hybrids in the Begonia Bank collection

We timed our trip to the FW Botanical Gardens perfectly, arriving on the weekend of the Spring Festival, as well as the annual Forth Worth Orchid Society's Orchid Show and Sale!

Prize-winning orchid at the annual Orchid Show and Sale

This event was held in the Garden Center, which is a very nice building in the center of the grounds, with rooms for meetings and events like this one.  There was one room setup with nice displays of orchids, including ribbons on those which had won prizes.  The range of sizes, colors, shapes and growth habits is just astounding.  I will never get over the diversity of the orchid family.

Another Orchid on display

In a larger neighboring room there were long rows of tables crowded full with orchids for sale.  The growers had come from as far as the Chicago-area and the plants were reasonably priced.  I found myself walking away with 4 plants - 1 full grown miniature and 3 seedlings.  I'll have to post on those orchids in the next week or so.

I love the tall petals of this orchid bloom.  It looks horned.

Attached to the Garden Center is a tropical Conservatory.  It is about 2/3 the size of the OKC Myriad Gardens, which I have visited several times and blogged about here, here and here.  The collection contains quite a few plants from the Marantaceae (Prayer Plant) and Araceae (Aroid) families, which made me very happy.

One of the many Calathea zebrina housed in the tropical Conservatory

An Aroid that might be Epipremnum pinnatum 'Cebu Blue'

Most of the FW Botanic Gardens are free and open to the public during daylight hours.  The admission price for the Conservatory is only $1!  The Japanese Garden ordinarily costs $2 admission and the other gardens are free.

Iceland Poppies (Papaver nudicaule) in one of the outdoor gardens

Overflowing container in the outdoor gardens

Waterfalls in one of the outdoor gardens

You could easily spend a full day exploring the outdoor gardens, or 2-3 days if you really wanted to be thorough.  We spent 6 hours at the FWBG on Saturday and most of that time was spent in the Japanese Gardens and the Conservatory.  We also enjoyed walking around the Perennial gardens and Rose gardens.  The Rose gardens are the oldest part of the FW Botanical Gardens, established by day workers during the Great Depression.

The Rose Ramp at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens

Many different Iris in bloom in the Four Seasons Garden

Lupine were one of my favorite displays of color in the outdoor gardens

I would highly recommend a trip to the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens if you are within driving distance or happen to be in the area for other reasons.  It is a wonderful place to explore and there are so many different things to see.

To see many more pictures from my trip to the FWBG click on the image below.

Plant Find: Calathea, Marantas, and Stromanthe

I am fond of plants from the Marantaceae family.  This family includes several genera that are common houseplants, including Calathea (peacock plants) and Maranta (prayer plants), as well as the less common Ctenanthe and Stromanthe.  There are actually about 30 genera in this family, but those 4 are the only ones with which I am familiar.

Generally, plants from this family are grown for their striking colors.  One of the features I enjoy is watching how all of the new leaves unfurl.  Also, mature leaves will retract whenever they dry out.  Marantas tend to fold in half (like praying hands), while Calatheas roll into a scroll.

Last week I added 3 new plants from this family to my collection.  I found a Calathea at Lowe's for $5 and it was a color variety that I had never seen before.  I figured I should snatch it up in case I never saw it again.  You know how that goes.

Peacock plant - Calathea roseopicta 'Saturn'

When I found myself driving through north Oklahoma City last Tuesday, I decided I should probably stop by my favorite plant nursery, TLC Florist and Greenhouses.  As usual, they had a couple of great plants for a mere $2!  I bought 2 different Marantas.

Prayer plant - Maranta leuconeura

Marantas have a wonderful, delicate feel.  They are fairly sensitive to soil moisture levels.  I try to not let the soil ever dry out.

Red-veined Prayer plant - Maranta leuconeura erythroneuro

Back in January, I added 2 other plants to my Marantaceae collection.  One is Stromanthe sanguinea 'Triostar', which I found for a very reasonable price at Lowe's.  It is a beautiful tri-colored plant that I saw in bloom at the Myriad Gardens last week.

Stromanthe sanguinea 'Triostar'

The other plant is a Ctenanthe, which I got at TLC Florist and Greenhouses.  In case you missed my post about TLC, you can see the post here and the photo album here.

Ctenanthe lubbersiana

I will probably post a more thorough guide to plants from the Marantaceae family in the next couple of months.