Sunday 9 March 2008

My Very Old Orchid

This was my mother's favorite orchid. The actual plant was passed down from my great grandmother's second husband, a man called Pedro Centeno. While we don't have an exact date, it must be close to 70 years old. Mother (my great grandmother), as we knew her, had lost her first husband to typhoid in 1910. She was under 30 with six children, my grandmother Dora, the youngest just 10 months old.When I'm having a bad day, I think of her.
I come from a family of women. They gardened, they cooked and they talked. This is the first year that I won't be ringing Mummy to boast that the Shower of Gold as we know it, has outdone itself and offered up some five to six sprays. I hope she can see her favorite flower in bloom from heaven. All these women still live in me. And the orchid is still here blooming every year.
For all the orchid afficianados, I've included an excerpt from the site http://www.exoticrainforest.com/ that I've linked to below.

Dendrobium lindleyi Steud.Synonym: Dendrobium aggregatum
Often known as Dendrobium aggregatum, which is now considered to be a synonym of Dendrobium lindleyi, this species is a native of Indochina, the Himalayas, Burma, and the Malaysian peninsula. Capable of producing relatively large sprays of up to one dozen flowers, the small pseudobulbs measure approximately 5cm (2 inches) long. Typically, Dendrobium lindleyi blooms in the spring producing orange-yellow flowers measuring approximately 3.5cm (1.5 inches) in width. The flowers produce a very light scent and are suspended from an inflorescence that hangs like a pendent to the side of the orchid. Some growers choose to grow the epiphytic species on slabs of cork but they can also be potted or grown in wooden baskets. If placed in a pot the potting media is best if it consists of a fibrous material such as sphagnum moss. Dendrobium lindleyi prefers large amounts of water in summer along with warm temperatures (70 to 90 degrees F) and moderately bright light. Water frequently with a dilute fertilizer added to the water. The species prefers cool nights with temperatures down to the low 50 degree F range during the winter along with just enough water to keep the pseudobulbs plump. Some growers do not recommend fertilizer during the winter.



This Easter lily has just popped up as well. That is how I know that we are well into the dry season. They are always a lovely surprise when they pop up like this.

Another sign that dry season is in full form is the blooming of the pink poui. All the tree around the Savannah are in full flower and the roads, pavements and savannah grass is all covered in a carpet of pink. I believe the pink poui is the National Flower of Venezuela which would make sense as Venezuela is only seven miles away from us.
I think the sheer beauty of this flower does more for the psyche of the average Trinidadian than any marketing or peace summit meeting. If everyone had a poui tree in their yard, that amount of beauty could not fail to have a soul soothing effect. And responding to some primal clock, all trees thoughout the island begin their show at the same time. The things nature could teach us.
Thank you poui for gracing our landscape. Below is some information on the geneology of the plant: Thank you http://mgonline.com/pinktab.html


Zone 10
Pink Tabebuia is native from Mexico to Venezuela. It may be seen called Pink Poui-Rosea or just Pink Trumpet Tree
Larger than the Yellow Tabebuia, it is rated widely from 20-50 feeTabebuia Most mature trees we see locally are about 30-35 feet. Tabebuia Young Pinks grow like the Yellow but then fill out taller and wider
This Tabebuia is one over 100 species with blooms starting near the first day of spring in South Florida. Its clusters of pink trumpet flowers are very attractive

31 comments:

nativeplace gardener said...

Hey Sharon,

Enjoyed browsing through your blog site. Loved the flower posted here, looks like the Indian Laburnum that i hope will flower in my garden by May.

Loved the pix on the slide show too

Cheers!

Kat said...

I'm not sure where you are from. I'm from Michigan and this photo of the flower is such a welcome view from the blandness of winter that we have been enduring since November/December.

Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Great blog, I can learn a lot

Anonymous said...

Hello Miss Sharon i dont even know you but i am fascinated to your blog, amazing pictures i love flowers!
Thanks for sharing..

Tania said...

hello, i enjoyed your blog too and though ive neva seen New-York, i liked "your" vision of it! Keep it up!!

Brett said...

Love the blog, photos are fantastic

Anonymous said...

Great capture!

HAREKRISHNAJI said...

The most beautiful blog I have come across so far.

Holy Cuteness said...

Nice picture...:-))

Anonymous said...

More nature shots!

Rum Tum Cat said...

just drop by ^^
nice picture
enjoy gardening

Anonymous said...

also some nice place in Iran like : Saadabad , Niavaran , Shams alemare and ...

Stardust said...

Hi, it's my first visit and I'm so glad to know your blog. (^^) I'm an Orchid lover too, but I'm sort of doing a bad job here. Happy for you that your Orchid is blooming fine. I'm sure your mom is proud of your good effort.

sunkate said...

Hi,
While stumbling over your blog, I actually made a poem on it:

From roots to leaves,
From flower to tree,
Sharon is on a
Gardening spree.

Planting and Watering,
She has to slog,
So to see her garden,
Please visit her blog...

Hope you like it...
Visit mine at http://freakytheories.blogspot.com
See ya...
:-)

Anonymous said...

Hello Sharon,
What a lovely story about the Orchid. It made me wish I had a flower that meant as much...lucky you. I am a fairly new gardener (just under 2 years) so I will be checking back regularly.

The Diva said...

Beautiful post. I'm sorry about your mother. What a lovely reminder of her that you have.

On another note, congrats on being named a blogger of note. I'm so happy for you.~~Dee

Anonymous said...

freedom is wilting like an unwatered plant and with out her fruit to eat prosperity will die and our world will fall back into the dark ages....

Aleta said...

I'm glad I stopped to "smell the roses" or other flowers as they may be. Those were lovely pictures!

I'm trying to see if I have a green thumb this year. You're blessed with beautiful blooms and memories.

Ann M. said...

Amazing photos, and gorgeous flowers :) The orchid is wonderful. It's great that it has been so well taken care of that it has lasted so long, and that it has such an interesting history.

Anonymous said...

gorgeous flowers!

Anonymous said...

Exquisitely beautiful and so well-photographed. I agree that beauty, especially that found in nature, does a great deal for the soul. Who of us, on a particularly bad or stressful day, have suddenly been jolted from self-absorbed melancholy and reminded, by such flowers as these, or even a lone dandelion growing out of the rocks, that beauty, and hope and quiet peace yet exist?
Not that I'm having a bad day today. In fact, I just got in from a lovely hike in the mountains, filled with springtime lupine and poppies.

Dee Ann said...

What a beautiful orchid and what a lovely legacy. What a thrill to see your colorful photos as we are still a landscape of grey and white. Gardening wont begin in earnest here in North Idaho for another 2 1/2 months.

ShoestringsEnd.com

Jane Hards Photography said...

Love all your flower shots, especialy the orchids. Always nice to find another photography blog

Jessica@Foodmayhem said...

Sharon, the flowers look beautiful and I almost teared when you connected the orchid to your mom. I still have my mom with me, thankfully, but flowers always make me think of her.

JAMJARSUPERSTAR said...

Hey, I love the images you use on this blog. I'm not really a plant or gardening lover or anything but that's great. Great to know about the moon phase too! That's interesting!

http://jamjarsuperstar.blogspot.com
http://scarletsculturegarden.blogspot.com

Tira said...

Hi Sharon This is a beautiful post-I love the orchid pics and the text and links.

creepingjenny said...

Hi Sharon,
I came across your blog while looking for a gardening fix--its been a long winter here. I'm sending a link to my dad--he is a big orchid enthusiast. He grows his tropicals in his home-built upstate NY greenhouse and would admire your beautiful yellow orchid.

BTW, I have visited NYC several times and have always had similar impressions. Visiting Manhattan is like experiencing a unique ecosystem. Hope you got a chance to see some of the conservatories in NY, there is one in Brooklyn that is quite wonderful.

Keep up the great work on your blog!
http://jlw-design.blogspot.com

kim said...

I too have an orchid that belonged to my mother though not quite as old a plant. This too is my first season to have the plant in my care as my mother left this earth September past. The orchid has another familiar spike emerging from a tangle of white sheathed roots. I anticipate the spray of lovely flowers to follow in coming months and in coming years...my mothers gift to me from heaven.

Marian Fortunati said...

Aren't blogs wonderful? They give us a little peak into another person's world. Your "world" and what you bring to it seem beautiful and interesting. I'll be back!

Anonymous said...

That wood pecker brought back memories. I have not seen one for over 14 years but thanks to you I have regain my love for the outdoors and wildlife. I can see you love the natural things in this world. Your pictures and photo style is good not to mention your sence of syle in architecture.

I love your Blog. Thank you

Guanaguanare said...

Beautiful blog, Sharon! I also adore the poui, especially the yellow. You are right. It makes your heart sing to see it in bloom, even better to sit under it when the petals are strewn all around.

It is the yellow poui which is the national tree of Venezuela - Tabebuia chrysantha, Araguaney or Yellow Ipê. I cannot remember where I once read this but way back in our history, Venezuela actually presented Trinidad with a gift of some of these trees. The national flower of Venezuela is actually an orchid, Cattleya Mossiae. It blooms in May and is called Flor de Mayo as a result. I have a youtube video Flor De Mayo sung by Simon Diaz embedded on one of my blogs.

Thanks for this post. My mother also loved orchids and we grew up with orchids hanging from every available branch in the fruit trees around our home. She made her own baskets and grew them successfully on coconut husks.
Blessings.