Cattleya

Question:

I heard that the future King and Queen of Cambodia received a special orchid during their visit to Virginia last month. Can you tell me about that? Linda L.

Answer:

One of our clients, a relative of the Cambodian royal family, suggested that it might be nice to honor Princess Yinneka Norodom with an orchid hybrid bearing her name in anticipation of her impending ascension to the throne. The royal couple had scheduled a Sunday morning meditation at the Quan Am Phat Dien Buddhist Temple in Chesterfield County.

Question

I am a native of Costa Rica and when I moved to the United States seven years ago, I brought a test tube baby of our National Flower, Cattleya skinneri. Since then, I have nursed the plant along and the pseudo-bulbs are now 3” tall. I have been fearful to put it outside where the deer might eat it so I keep it in my sunroom. Will this plant ever bloom? Denise R.

Answer:

Q) What can you tell me about Merriweather Post’s orchid collection? Aaron T.

A) The name Merriweather Post is often mentioned in connection with the famed music pavilion near Washington D.C. or for the popular line of breakfast cereals that includes Grape Nuts Flakes. However not many people know that Marjorie Merriweather Post maintained extensive orchid greenhouses which held one of the largest private collections in the United States.

“Where flowers bloom, so does hope.”

On the centennial anniversary of Lady Bird Johnson’s birth, a special namesake First lady orchid was presented to her oldest daughter, Lynda Bird Johnson Robb. The timing was perfect – the week of Mother’s Day – a fitting tribute to one of the great First Ladies.

Q) I was recently given a lovely orchid. The only problem is that the flowers don’t look quite right. What’s going on? Jackie C.