The Future of Orchids I finally made it to the Smithsonian Gardens 2024 Orchid Exhibit! This year’s exhibit, in collaboration with the United States Botanic Garden, is located in the Kogod Courtyard at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Museum in downtown Washington DC. The 2024 theme is “The Future of Orchids: Conservation and Collaboration,” and the (free!) exhibit runs through April 28. If you’re an orchid fan in the area, this is a must-see! The Kogod Courtyard is always a lovely spot for the orchid exhibit, which is in a different location each year; last year’s ex ..read more

Currently Blooming We’re a few months in to 2024, and I have many blooming orchids to post about! First, I want to share this photo from the rotunda at the National Gallery (west building). We went there in late January and to my surprise, there was a beautiful display of orchids ringing the fountain: I’m not sure if the orchid display is still there, but if you live in DC or happen to be visiting, it can’t hurt to stop by. The National Gallery is worth a visit regardless (and admission is free!). My Orchid Blooms Long post ahead…I’m sharing 19 photos of my orchids! I’m delayed in writing thi ..read more

So Many Winter Spikes! There wasn’t much to report about my orchids for awhile, but now that we’re heading into winter, I have a whole bunch of spikes on my Phalaenopsis orchids! My two Tolumnias have spikes as well. I spent some time photographing the spikes the other day so that I could share pics here. Before we dive in to my spike extravaganza, I want to remind readers that my 2024 calendar is available in my Zazzle shop. As of this posting, you can get 15% off using the code ZHOLIDAY2023 at checkout. Okay! The first spike I’ll share is the Phalaenopsis that’s farthest along in the bloomin ..read more

12 Months of Original Orchid Photography Hello, orchid peeps! Long time no blog! I haven’t posted much this year, but I at least I’ve been keeping up a little more frequently on my Instagram. Anyway, I’m here to share that the Brooklyn Orchids 2024 calendar is now available on my Zazzle store. This 12-month calendar features my own original photos of orchids, including photos that I took at the 2023 Smithsonian Orchid Exhibit as well as shots of orchids in my own collection. With Black Friday/Cyber Monday/perpetual holiday promotions fast approaching, my 2024 calendar is a great gift for your ..read more

2023 Orchid Exhibit in DC Oh hi there, I’m just over here killing it at blogging (lol, I haven’t posted here since last November). I hope you’re doing well and enjoying your orchids, if you grow any! Many orchids in my collection are blooming, and I still need to sit down and post about them. In the meantime, I’ll share with you my visit to the orchid exhibit that the Smithsonian Gardens hosts annually in collaboration with the US Botanic Garden here in Washington DC. This year’s exhibit is called “Discover the World of Orchids” and it runs from February 17 to April 30, 2023 at the US Botanic ..read more

Twelve Months of My Orchid Photography Wow…I didn’t realize I hadn’t posted on my blog here in such a long time. Whoopsie! It’s so easy to just post updates on Instagram instead of sitting down to write a full post. Anyway…I’m here to share that my 2023 calendar is now available to purchase on Zazzle! As per usual, the calendar features twelve months of my original photography. Most of the photos in the 2023 calendar are of orchids in my own collection, but a couple are from the Smithsonian Orchid Exhibit that I went to this spring. The full price is $25.70 per calendar, but you can get the c ..read more

My First Orchid Exhibit in 3 Years Hello again, orchid lovers! Last weekend, John and I made our way to the Kogod Courtyard at the American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery for the 2022 Smithsonian Orchid Exhibit. The last time I saw an orchid exhibit was in this exact same place in 2019! The 2022 exhibit theme is Orchids: Hidden Stories of Groundbreaking Women. I feel a little guilty because I didn’t really spend time reading about the featured women on any of the displays. Because the pandemic is still going on and the courtyard began to get busier, I didn’t want to spend a ton of ti ..read more

New Year, New Blooms Happy 2022! February is still a little way off, so I’m gonna say it’s still okay to wish folks a Happy New Year.   Winter is in full swing, and orchid blooming season has begun inside my greenhouse! So it’s time to share photos of the current blooms in my collection. First up is the Bletilla striata variegata! This is one of the three terrestrial orchids that my husband got me for my birthday last year. I had a hard time taking good photos of these blooms; this is the best I’ve got: I ended up leaving all three of these orchids in their pots in the back yard instead ..read more

12-Month Calendar Featuring My Own Orchids The 2022 Brooklyn Orchids calendar is now available in my Zazzle shop! Typically with my 12-month calendar I’ll select the best photos that I took at orchid shows and orchid sellers throughout the year, but I didn’t visit any such places in 2021. Happily, though, many of my own orchids bloomed this past year—making it possible to craft a calendar entirely comprised of orchids from my very own collection! The Brooklyn Orchids 2022 Calendar costs $23.70 (pre-tax and shipping), but Zazzle very often has promo codes…especially since we’re sliding on into ..read more

Fall 2021 Blooms and Spikes Hello there! Yes, it’s me, the occasional orchid blogger. I’m back with a new look for my website! I’m still tweaking the appearance, but if you see anything funky, please feel free to leave a comment letting me know. The previous version of my site was not mobile friendly, but this new version should be compatible with mobile devices.  My favorite time of year is here, and along with it are a couple blooms on my Cattleya Mrs. Herbert Greaves that I got from Santa Barbara Orchid Estate back in 2016. Isn’t she a beaut?! This orchid actually hasn’t bloomed for ..read more