The Temple of Flora

More correctly, this book is titled "New Illustration of the Sexual System of Carolus von Linnaeus" by Robert John Thornton, MD published in 1805. Made available online by the Missouri Botanical Garden via Botanicus.org. Beautifully illustrated book. I ran across it while looking for old illustrations of orchids. There is only one illustration of an orchid in this book, but many other beautiful illustrations of many types of flowers. The book itself is a work of art, so I have taken screen shots of some pages here.

Not sure why people insist on calling this work "The Temple of Flora" which really appears to be a subtitle. It sounds more, well, ethereal and poetic. Unless you love the poetry of scientific discourse, as I do.

Of course, if you are a benefactee of Queen Victoria, it pays to kiss up to the boss. It probably also does not pay to not-kiss-up to the boss.

Let's make it really, clear, the boss needs kissing up to.

OK, boss, in case you missed it, your getting the "royal treatment" here.

Whew. No heads to be lost here now.




Living in Victorian England, it's always nice to have some pictures of angels floating around in your scientific text book.
And of course, books being the "facebook" of the time, they had to include the authors face. As do books, and blogs, today.

OK, here is the illustration that I was leading to. I've been trying to find out what a Chinese Limodoron actually is. Haven't found it yet. Beautiful illustration, though.
"This beautiful plant was introduced into our garden in 1778 by Dr. Fothergill, who obtained the seeds from China.

Edit: The Limodorn is Phaius tankervillae. Once I know what I'm looking for, I can find it.

Oncidium engraving, 1763

This image is from wikimedia commons, "Illustration of Oncidium abruptum (as syn. Epidendrum altissimum Jacq) Date 1763 from "Selectarum stirpium Americanarum historia" by Nikolaus Joseph Freiherr von Jacquin, Vindobonae (= Vienna), vol 2 pl 141, engraving by Joseph Wagner. Also known as Baron Nikolaus von Jacquin (1727–1817), He was born in Leiden in the Netherlands, studied medicine at Leiden University, moved to Paris, then to Vienna. Nikolaus von Jacquin was sent to the West Indies and Central America by Francis I between 1755 and 1759 to collect plants for the Schönbrunn Palace.

This image is around 250 years old. It's older than the USA. You can find similar Oncidium-derived hybrids in the grocery store today. I continue trying to find the oldest images that I can find of orchids. I know there are older, but this is much older than some of my other posts.

With Dendrobium nobiles in bud, I wanted to post a vintage drawing of a dendrobium. Not necessarily a nobile - looks like it says Dendrobium macrophilum. This is from L'Illustration Horticole, 1888 (therefore public domain) by Pannemaeker

Orchids in January: Promises

A couple of hours with an ice pack on my back, and 600mg of ibuprofen, and I was up to walking around with the camera and looking at the "promises" of orchid blooms. They are gradual, but they always bring hope. A bit over one year ago, I didn't know if I could bring orchids into bloom, or if they would even survive. Now the windows are full of orchids, many with buds or spikes. Most are in South windows unless otherwise stated.

This Cymbidium continues to lengthen its spike. I try to be patient. Actually, there is no other choice! It's my first attempt at a Cymbidium, and I'm happy it's come this far. The flowers are brownish with magenta spotted lip, difficult for me to describe. If I've indexed it right, it can be found by clicking on the Cymbidium label.

As I was walking around taking photos, I noticed a new spike on this Burrageara Stefan Isler "Lava Flow". I am SO EXCITED! COOL! I was ready to give up hope for reblooming Oncidium alliance orchids. This one really grew nicely last year, several new pseudobulbs, a full specimen plant. I've been noticing the newer pseudobulbs swelling, and looked as recently as this week without seeing the any new spikes. I was starting to think about whether I wanted to keep it.

So like a proud parent with a camera, here is the spike! Did it grow from almost nothing to 3 inches overnight? Or did I just not notice it? Still quite some growth to happen before it blooms, but I think that the biggest hurdle is getting it to decide to make a spike. This is so cool!

Like the good child in the family, this Yamamoto Dendrobium Fancy Angel "Lycee" continues to behave and impress, without much encouragement, out performing everyone else and not getting a lot of credit for it because it is so reliable. Starting to spike again after a beautiful performance 2 months ago. A very reliable and beautiful flower.

This Trader Joe's Yamamoto Dendrobium "NOID Purple" (my name) is also a strong performer, but hasn't bloomed before this winter. Here we see new buds swelling. I also bloomed last winter and again during the summer. (Added later - I forgot I had decided this is Yamamoto Dendrobium Love Memory "Fizz". Looks just like it, and with that name I must have it.)

Here is the keiki that I started from above Trade Joe's Yamamoto Dendrobium "Purple", sharing a supplemental light source in the South window. The light is mainly there for the two Dendrobium phalaenopsis - type hybrids, that I suspect need more light in the winter. They are "Anching Lubag" and "Genting", for the record. Whether they will grow and rebloom is a question I hope is answered this year. The Yamamoto keiki, now a plant on it's own, is fattening up nicely and is maturing. It would be cool if it bloomed at a small size, but regardless, it's fun to have started an orchid plant "from the beginning".

Here is the Trader Joe's Epidendrum "NOID Red" (again, my name. Creative....) but it needs to be called something. These are said to be very easy, but you never know until you grow them yourself. It's making several new spikes on growth that happened in 2010 so it's another case of "I did it!" It's in a South window.

Iwanagaara Appleblossom "Fantasy" appears to have a nice spike on one of the new, larger-fatter pseudobulbs that grew last year. It's in a South window. I understand that these can give up while there is still a sheath, but have some hope. Holding it to the light, there appears to be a flower bud inside that sheath. Same is true for unpictured Potinara Achung Yoyo "Little Goldfish" which, if only because of the name, I would love to see it bloom.

A beautifully burgundy-leafed Phalenopsis (or is it Doritonopsis?) which has had a slowly growing flower spike for about 6 months. Inch by inch..... It's in a North window.

This rebloom-on-old-spike Phaenenopsis is another case of reliability to the point of taking for granted. Of course, I haven't had it bloom from a de novo new spike yet, but it's been in bloom for months and months. The photo doesn't do it justice, it's darker than the photo shows. It's in a West window.

Another Phalaenopsis about to rebloom on existing spikes. This one is white with pink polka-dots. Quite pretty. It also has a de novo spike. It's in a South window. In my area, even South windows are gloomy this time of year.

Back Pain Saturday

I was headed out to haul some bark mulch and pulled a back muscle while changing shoes. Oh the irony - didn't even haul one load.

Three days ago on my day off I DID get a truckload of medium bark nuggets. Spread some on one freshly-cleared and weeded border, so I hope that will be weed-free this year. It depends on whether kitty cat likes the medium nuggets for her "world's biggest litter box". I'm hoping not. Once she decides a garden bed is the world's biggest litter box, she has it dug up within a few weeks, not only destroying the neat appearance, but bringing weed seeds to the top so it is weedy - all doing away with the effort. I've thought about laying chicken wire on top of the old soil, then covering with mulch. Instead, this time, I got larger size bark, to see if that is less attractive to her. There are lots of spots with the smaller bark if she still chooses.

Frustrated about the back Sitting here with my feet up, ice pack on my back, and just took 3 ibuprofens. I hope it's tolerable tomorrow.

If I can get up later I'll take pics of the orchids in-bud. They are "promising" a nice show.