Necessary Evil

Blasted my Orchids with a cocktail of Fertilizer, Fungicide and Insecticide. Hate to do it but it seems a necessary evil if I wanted to have flowers growing to full bloom. I had began growing pandan, papaya, starfruits, chilli and lime 1 year ago and would prefer not to spray as much as I can. But then even the edibles needed protection. It's amazing how fast the aphids and mealy bug appear. So I switched to using Neem Oil. Seems to deter pests on the edibles but not thrips on my orchids. The buds will just shrivel the moment it appears leaving a sad looking spike. Now I alternate neem and dimethoate and the flowers are back!

Finally, I'll be having flowers on my Den. Patria and Den. Siah KoKo soon. My minature Dendrobium hybrids are alread flowering - Cheat Chai, CKAI x canniculatum ... Best of all, my Rhyncovanda Colmarie bloomed together with the Aerides lawrencea and Vanda lamellata; all 3 wondefully fragrant!

Tiger Orchids Galore

I saw a 2 spikes off a cluster of Tiger Orchids last month and was hoping to view the flowers this month and guess what! Practically every cluster of Tiger Orchids in the NOG is in bloom - at the entrance plaza, in the Orchidarium, along boardwalk to the cool house.. what a wonderful sight.

In my 2+ years of guiding at the NOG, I came across the Tiger Orchids in bloom only once and boy was I in for a treat this time round. The sight of the flowers makes me forget the rain.

Besides the Tiger Orchids, many plants in the Cool House are also in season. I do not have to search to show the collections to the visitors I brought in. Must make time for another trip soon with my camera!

The Beginning

I grow Orchids as a hobby. It started 3 years ago with 3 Dendrobiums which I bought during Chinese New Year. The flowers lasted 6 whole weeks and it started my quest to find out more about them and eventually I started my collection.

Intially, to satisfy my "hunger" I practically bought almost every "new" type of orchids I laid eyes on. My collection grew to more than 300 plants today. I've slowed down as I have become more selective on the plants I collect. My focus is on species and frangrant plants now. There will always be room for 1 more orchid!

Plants in bloom in my garden include Cycnodes Wine Delight, Onc. Kihili, Phal. Grande Code, Den Thai Jasmine, Den Dawn Marie...

I just love the Wine Delight - predictable and wonderfully fragrant. looking forward to Aredies Lawrencea and Rynchovanda Colmarie which are spiking now. How I wish my Slipper Orchids will flower.

Btw, please take note that Singapore Botanic Gardens has free guided tour of the National Orchid Garden every 3rd Sat of the month. There are 4 tours - 9am, 10am, 11am & 4pm. Come down on 20th Aug. The tour is free, you just have to pay for entrance to the NOG!