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"I do not think I have ever seen anything more beautiful than the bluebell I have been looking at.I know the beauty of our Lord by it."
- Gerald Manley Hopkins
About Orchids
Orchids are wonderful and exquisite enhancing the elegant aspects a flower can have. Very popular flowers, loved for its distinct and elegant outlook. Orchids are lovely and amazingly beautiful flowers, very much preferred and necessary components of weddings, baptisms, anniversaries, birthdays, name days or Valentine�s Day celebrations. Orchids immediately allude to nobility, royalty and elegance. A bunch of orchids besides being a lovely sight transmits messages of appreciation, love and noble feelings. Orchids in my opinion can be considered the queen�s of flowers. Let us take a closer look at these wonderfully amazing flowers.
Orchids can be defined as tall flowers having three inner petals, three outer petals, as well as a cupped petal. This description already denotes the exoticism, intricate anatomy and even an extravagant appearance. It is precisely this extravagant outlook that attracts us. Orchids are supposed to exist even in the prehistoric times. Orchids were supposed to coexist with dinosaurs. Since then, orchids evolved and developed a certain capacity to adapt to every climate and environment. Nowadays 35.000 species are registered, but their number will continue to grow with the ongoing crossing experiments.
Orchids attract pollinators for reproduction by several ingenious methods: scent, mimicry and stealth. Orchids with sweet scents usually attract bees; those with a rancid smell lure flies. The orchid can also draw pollinators through visual mimicry, imitating insects including bees and butterflies with the patterns on its petals. A third technique is stealth. The slipper orchid lures a prospective pollinator to the edge of its slippery pouch, and the insect falls in. When it finds the single exit, it brushes against the pollinia. Some orchids are pollinated by crawling insects, and thus have long petals that brush the ground. And insects alone do not pollinate orchids�small mammals, hummingbirds, bats and the wind also contribute to the survival of the species.
The first man known to bloom an orchid is William Cattley. He managed to bloom the first orchid in 1818. This event launched a series of unfortunate happenings. Forrests were stripped of millions of orchids, some species becoming endangered. This very unfortunate event underlines man�s fascination with this flower. They took so much delight in these flowers that were capable of doing everything for them, even paying large sums of money for just a single flower. As the modern age was coming, these practices were banned and nowadays orchids are bred and cultivated worldwide.
Orchids attract pollinators for reproduction by several ingenious methods: scent, mimicry and stealth. Orchids with sweet scents attract bees. The orchid can also draw pollinators through visual mimicry, imitating insects including bees and butterflies with the patterns on its petals. A third technique can be named stealth. The slipper orchid lures a prospective pollinator to the edge of its slippery pouch, and the insect falls in. When it finds the single exit, it brushes against the pollinia. Beside insects small mammals, hummingbirds, bats and the wind also contribute to the survival of the species.
Today we can count for over 25.000 types of orchids. Thus the Orchidaceae family can be considered the most numerous family in the natural world. Although we think of orchids as a tropical flower they can actually grow in almost any climate. Orchids are classified depending on their water requirements. Paphiopedilum, Cymbidium and Odontoglossum need a moist environment all year long. Cattelya, Oncidium and Dendrobium only need water when they are actively growing and the vanda Ascocend doesn�t really need water at all.To grow these delicate plants one needs to obey the following rules: water, light, proper temperatures and fertilization. Moreover orchids will need to be repotted every 2-3 years.
Orchids are fairly easy to grow. Having an orchid in your house would mean, having the very beauty and fragrance of nature next to you. Orchids are very much preferred by ladies and there is nothing nicer than sending or receiving these exquisitely splendid and wonderful flowers. In Romania orchids are particularly favored, and many persons surprise their dearest ones with a large and fabulous bunch of orchids.