‘Mi Amour’

Odontonia Papageno ‘Mi Amour’, from the orchid family

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Before the bloom: Paphiopedilum Hsinying Lady Duck Lady Isabel ‘788’ x adductum v. anitum ‘#13’

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Orchid

Unidentified Orchid photographed in the Conservatory at the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Spathoglottis ‘Golden Passion’

Spathoglottis ‘Golden Passion’, from the Orchid family, photographed in the conservatory at the U.S. Botanic Garden

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

‘Miyazaki’ Spotted Toad Lily

I planted two Toad Lily ‘Miyazaki’ plants (Tricyrtis hirta ‘Miyazaki’) in my garden last year and almost missed them blooming this fall. I photographed these blooms at Green Spring Gardens this morning. These unusual perennial plants originated from Japan and the blooms resemble orchids. These self-seeders bloom in late summer to early fall, prefer part sun, are drought resistant, and thrive in Zones 4-8.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

‘Blue Mystique’ Moth Orchid

I photographed this ‘Blue Mystique’ Moth Orchid (Phalaenopsis) in the conservatory at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden this afternoon. Silver Vase introduced the “world’s first true blue orchid” in January of this year. These blooms, which start out as white, are not painted, sprayed or hybridized. It gets its color through a patented process that induces the blue color in flowers. The process takes anywhere from 48-90 hours to induce the color into the flowers.

While I do love naturally blue flowers, I’m not so sure about this one yet. I had hoped it would possibly be a hybrid, but it is simply chemically altered. Silver Vase’s website notes that the chemical elements are “naturally derived and environmentally conscious.” The buds are closed at the time they are treated, so as the orchid grows, a new stem can bloom either white flowers or a range of blue hues from azure to sapphire to royal blue and every shade in between. What do you think?

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I’m looking for something in red…

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And finally, Purplelicious Installment #4

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Last year I wrote a newsletter article for the FlowershopNetwork.com. Check out “A Passion for Purple Flowers” here.

Re-post: Lighter shade of pale

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

 

Lighter shade of pale

Colors left to profile—red, green, and variegated (a fellow blogger’s suggestion)—I’ve covered orange, pink, blue, yellow and purple. Am I leaving something out?

I suppose since it’s still winter, I could cover brown, but that’s not too inspiring, is it? Might not be, but boy do I have lots of that color in the garden right now.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

A riot of color

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

My friend Carmen and I finally made it over to the U.S. Botanic Garden (http://www.usbg.gov/) this year. The exhibit at the entrance to the building is their first-ever textile exhibit, “A Stitch in Vine,” featuring beautiful botanically-themed quilts handmade by artists of the Chesapeake & Potomac Applique Guild (http://www.quiltguilds.com/maryland.htm).

Also on display is their annual Orchid exhibit. This year’s exhibit is “An Alphabet Garden of Orchids,” and remains on display through April 13. There seemed to be even more plants on display this year than last, so there were ample photo ops. These are just a few of the more graphic shots I got.