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

Native Orchid Spotting Last weekend, my husband and I did a getaway trip at an Airbnb in West Virginia for my birthday! I know that some Cypripediums (Lady’s Slipper Orchid) bloom around this time of year, so I Googled to see if there might be an area near our Airbnb where we could find them. We settled on Trout Pond Recreation Area in George Washington National Forest as a spot to explore. I wasn’t 100% sure we would find any orchids there, but I figured we could have a nice little outing regardless. We parked by Rockcliff Lake and walked the short trail around the lake. It was an absolutely ..read more

A Greenhouse of Blooms In mid-January, I shared some of the orchid blooms that had opened up in our greenhouse. A lot more action has happened since then—even more orchids have bloomed. So I’m back with fresh photos…including two orchids that I’ve had for 11 years without blooming once! Before we take a look at all of them, please enjoy this shot of a bright, sunny winter afternoon inside the greenhouse: If you’re interested in some short, soothing videos of my blooms, I’ve made three Reels on Instagram. I haven’t joined TikTok and don’t plan to, because it’s hard enough to keep up with all t ..read more

Very Exciting Times For the first time in YEARS, I have several orchids blooming and many more in spike. About two thirds of my Phalaenopsis orchids are currently blooming or in spike! Having our greenhouse has REALLY paid off. So I’m here to share photos of my orchids that are in bloom! The first to bloom on a new spike was the Phalaenopsis tetraspis var. alba that I ordered from Orchids by Hausermann last summer: These white blooms are a little hard to photograph, but they’re so beautiful! The flowers have a very pleasant lemony scent. The original spike that was on this plant when I recei ..read more

It’s hard to process yesterday’s sickening insurrection on the U.S. Capitol Building by domestic terrorists. I’m here to state some of my own thoughts about yesterday’s disgusting events. If you don’t like it, you’re more than welcome to find another orchid blog to follow. Image credit: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images As a DC resident living not all that far from the Capitol Building, yesterday was extremely alarming. We are, however, far enough away from it that we felt okay staying put at home. There was no activity in our immediate area, fortunately. We stayed in and packed a go bag just in ca ..read more