Orchids In Black and White!

As you’ve probably noticed I love color! It’s one of the first things I often notice about a flower is what color it is. Is there more than one shade of a color in the flower? Is there more than one color in the flower?

But recently, I’ve been processing some of my flower photographs as black and white images. In black and white, I see the patterns and structural details of the flowers in ways that I don’t see them when I looking at the flowers in color.

Here are a few of my recent orchid photographs – processed as black and white images. I”d love to know what you think of them

Sweet Charm Epidendrum Orchids © 2012 Patty Hankins

Stardust Epidendrum Orchid © 2012 Patty Hankins

Vanda Orchid © 2012 Patty Hankins

Vanda Orchid © 2012 Patty Hankins

Vanda Orchids © 2012 Patty Hankins

Epidendrum Orchids

© 2012 Patty Hankins

Epidendrum orchids are one of my favorite groups of orchids. I love the delicate little flowers, and what looks almost like a little face on each one. I’ve seen them in amazing shades of red, orange, yellow and pink.

Epidendrum orchids are native to the western hemisphere – found from South Carolina to Argentina. They grow in all sorts of locations and conditions – ranging from jungles to along the shore.

I’ve photographed Epidendrum orchids on both of my recent visits to Longwood Gardens, I hope you enjoy my photos of them.

Sweet Charm Epidendrum Orchids

© 2012 Patty Hankins

© 2012 Patty Hankins

© 2012 Patty Hankins

Starburst Epidendrum Orchids

© 2012 Patty Hankins

© 2012 Patty Hankins

© 2012 Patty Hankins

© 2012 Patty Hankins

And an unidentified pink and white Epidendrum orchid

© 2012 Patty Hankins

Ladies Tresses – Spiranthes odorata

For the first time – you get to see some photos of flowers from my garden!! I’m not known for my gardening abilities – in fact – I killed a butterfly bush. In the past couple of years, I’ve been adding more and more native plants into my garden. Not only are they well suited for my climate (so hopefully will require less babying) but they also attract lots of birds, butterflies and insects into my garden.

This spring, I planted a Ladies Tresses plant. Ladies Tresses are a native orchid – and are supposedly reasonably easy to grow. My guess is that mine are the Chadds Ford variety – which is one of the easiest to grow in gardens. Throughout much of the summer, it didn’t look very good – then all of a sudden a couple of weeks ago – it perked up and started to bloom!!! So here are photos of my Ladies Tresses!!

© 2011 Patty Hankins

Ladies Tresses (Spiranthes odorata) is frequently the last native orchid to bloom each year. In the Washington DC area, it blooms in September and October. Further south, it can be found blooming as late as December. These lovely orchids are native to the Southeastern United States – their habitat ranges from New Jersey to Texas.

© 2011 Patty Hankins

Known also as Fragrant Ladies Tresses and Marsh Ladies Tresses, Spiranthes odorata grow to about 2 feet tall. Small white hooded fragrant blossoms are found on spiral stalks. The twisting of the stems is a result of uneven cell growth. They prefer to grow in moist boggy soil in partial shade. The ones in my garden are in partial shade and not very good soil.

© 2011 Patty Hankins

There are close to 300 species of Ladies Tresses worldwide – 25 species in North America. Some practical uses of the plants have been recorded. A European variety was used medicinally to treat eye, skin and kidney diseases. In Chile, a local species was used as a diuretic. Native Americans used it for everything from a blood purifier to a treatment for venereal diseases. The roots were sometimes used in charms for hunters or as food.

© 2011 Patty Hankins

I hope you’ve enjoyed the photos of my ladies tresses. They did well enough this year that I may add another few ladies tresses into my garden next year!

If you’d like more information about ladies tresses, you can find some online at

Flora of North America

Kemper Center for Home Gardening

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Native American Ethnobotany

USDA Plant Profiles

Cranefly Orchids – Tipularia discolor

© 2011 Patty Hanknis

The same day I photographed the Yellow Fringed Orchid – I also found a photographed a second native orchid – the Cranefly Orchid (tipularia discolor). Cranefly orchids are one of three members of the tiularia genus. The other two species are native to Japan and the Himalayas.

© 2011 Patty Hankins

The Cranefly orchids are one of the most unusual native orchids I’ve ever seen. Its shades of green, purple and brown make it very hard to spot in the woods. What fascinated me about the orchid is the way the spurs of the flowers cross and created amazing patterns.

© 2011 Patty Hankins

Cranefly orchids emerge as a single green glossy leaf  in the fall that last through the winter. In the spring, the leaves die back and a stem emerges that blooms in the summer. The purple stems grow up to 60 cm tall with greenish brown flowers. The flowers are about 1 cm across and tilt to one side or the other – which facilitates pollination by noctuids moths.  The pollen attaches the moths eyes as it visits the plants.

Native to much of the Eastern and Southern United States, they are listed as threatened or endangered in Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan and New York. They prefer to grow in forests with moist soil.

More information about cranefly orchids can be found at

Connecticut Botanical Society

Flora of North America

Florida’s Native and Naturalized Orchids

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Missouri Plants

USDA Plant Profiles

Wikipedia

Yellow Fringed Orchids – Platanthera ciliaris

Last summer I found (and photographed) my first fringed orchids – the Small Purple Fringed Orchid (platanthera psycodes). Recently, I photographed a related orchid – the Yellow Fringed Orchid (platanthera ciliaris). The Platanthera’s are a genus of orchids native to the Northern hemisphere – with 32 different species found in North America. They are terrestrial and have tubercules (a small rounded on the lip of the orchid).

© 2011 Patty Hankins

When I first spotted the Yellow Fringed Orchids – I knew immediately that they were related to the Purple Fringed Orchids. With the fringe along the edge of the flowers – I couldn’t imagine they could be anything but native orchids. As I looked more closely at the flowers – I was fascinated by how complex of a structure they have. Not only is there the fascinating fringe – but also what look like a pair of teeth on the upper lip of the flowers.

© 2011 Patty Hankins

Yellow Fringed Orchids are native to much of the eastern and southern United States and Ontario, Canada. They are threatened or endangered in a number of states including Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. They can be found blooming in many areas through the months of July, August and September.

© 2011 Patty Hankins

Yellow Fringed Orchids grow up to 100 cm tall. The racemes have up to 50 flowers – each about one inch from the sepal to the end of the lower lip. The flowers range in color from yellow to apricot to orange. They prefer to grow in moist boggy areas – often along roadsides or open pine areas.

© 2011 Patty Hankins

Native Americans used the Yellow Fringed Orchids to treat everything from headaches to snakebites. They also used the roots as fish bait.

I love the look of the Yellow Fringed Orchids. Now that I know what they look like – and where they prefer to grow – I hope to find and photograph more of them.

For more information about Yellow Fringed Orchids, visit

Flora of North America

Florida’s Native and Naturalized Orchids

Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Michigan State University

Native American Ethnobotany

USDA Plant Profile

UW Stevens Point – Robert W Freckmann Herbarium

 

Wikipedia – Platanthera

New Photo: Blue Mystique Orchid – Center Detail

Blue Mystique Orchid – Center Detail (c) 2011 Patty Hankins

I’ve recently added a new photo – Blue Mystique Orchid – Center Detail – to my Beautifulflowerpictures.com website.

Blue Mystique is one of the newest orchids available. Introduced earlier this year – the Blue Mystique orchids start out as white orchids – and then the blue color is infused into the orchids. They seem to be getting a mixed reaction from orchid fans – many of whom view them as artificial. I found the center of this orchid to be absolutely fascinating – multiple shades of blue, bright yellow, and spots! I knew as soon as I took a close look at this amazing flower that I was going to do my best to get a photo of the center details.

This photograph is available as either a 12X15″ or 20X26″ gallery-wrapped canvas.  You can order Blue Mystique Orchid – Center Detail from my website.

New Photo: Blue Mystique Orchid

Blue Mystique Orchid (c) 2011 Patty Hankins

 

 

I’ve recently added a new photo – Blue Mystique Orchid – to my Beautifulflowerpictures.com website.

Blue Mystique is one of the newest orchids available. Introduced earlier this year – the Blue Mystique orchids start out as white orchids – and then the blue color is infused into the orchids. They seem to be getting a mixed reaction from orchid fans – many of whom view them as artificial. I just know that I love the color of the Blue Mystique Orchids.

This photograph is available as either a 15X12″ or 26X20″ gallery-wrapped canvas.  You can order Blue Mystique Orchid from my website.

Blue Mystique Orchids

Earlier this week I spent a few hours at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond. I love visiting this garden and try to spend some time there any time in Richmond. Their spring orchid show – Orchids Galore -  had just opened – so I made sure to visit the Conservatory and take a look. One of the delights of the orchid show was the Blue Mystique Orchid. Yes there really is a blue orchid available this year!

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

I’d seen a Blue Mystique Orchid at Longwood Gardens last month – but hadn’t gotten any good photos of it. At Lewis Ginter – I was able to get some fantastic photos of one of this year’s most unusual orchids!

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

Blue Mystique Orchids are advertised as the world’s first blue phalaenopsis orchid. The grower who developed them started with white orchids – and through a secret patented process infused them with blue. As you can see, they are an incredible shade of blue! New flowers on existing stalks will supposedly come in as shades of lighter blue. New stalks will have white flowers.

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

I find them a delight to photograph – I just haven’t found that many blue flowers to photograph. What has been interesting to hear have been the comments from other visitors to the orchid shows – the response to the Blue Mystiques seems to range from it’s a fake that people should be promoting – to wow that’s neat – got to have one of my own.

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

Now that the process has been developed – I’m going to be curious to see what new types of orchids are developed using the same process – and what the reaction to them is as well. So what do you think about the Blue Mystique orchid?

 

 

New Photo: Slipper Orchid

Slipper Orchid (c) 2011 Patty Hankins

I’ve recently added a new photo –   Slipper Orchid – to my Beautifulflowerpictures.com website.

The more time I spend photographing orchids – the more fascinated by them I become. Each variety is so different from every other one. I usually am able to identify the flowers that I photograph – either because they had identification signs at the garden where I photographed them – or because I can find them in one of my flower identification books. This is one the ones that I can’t identify – all I know is that is it some variety of slipper orchid. There are several types of slipper orchids – each of which has many many different varieties. So instead of worrying because I couldn’t figure it out – or not printing it because I didn’t know what it is – I decided to simply title the photo – Slipper Orchid. And if anyone knows what variety orchid this is – I’d love it if you could let me know!

This photograph is available as either a 10 X 10 or 20 X 20 ″ gallery-wrapped canvas.  You can order Slipper Orchid from my website and I will have it available at shows.

Some Epidendrum Orchids

In 2009, I saw some Epidendrum Orchids at Longwood Garden’s annual Orchid Extravaganza. I was fascinated by them – they were were so different from most of the other orchids I was familiar with.

Since then, I’ve kept my eye out for more Epidendrum orchids to photograph. I found a few more in recent months, so here they are.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

Epidendrum Orchids are a neotropical genus of the Orchid family. There are over 1000 different species of Epidendrums – most are native to the tropic and subtropical regions of the Americas. They can be found from South Carolina to Argentina. The greatest variety of Epidendrums are found in the Andes Mountains of South America.

 

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

The genus – Epidendrum – gets it’s name from the Greek words for “upon trees”. Most Epidendrums are epiphytes – growing on another plant. Most Epidendrums grow on trees – getting moisture and nutrition from the air, the host plant, and debris that gathers around it.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

Many varieties of Epidendrums can be grown indoors as house-plants. They can be grown in orchid potting mix. Be sure to provide support for long stems. For light – in the summer they prefer bright indirect light – in the winter – direct full light. They should be watered year round – less often in winter. Many varieties need to be misted daily.

 

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

I hope you’ve enjoyed my Epidendrum orchid photos. I’ll continue to keep my eye for more to photograph. They always look like such bright cheerful flowers to me.