Rose pogonia orchid?

While hiking out to the cliffs of Georgian Bay at the end of May, we passed this little wildflower growing in lowland boggy areas along the trail. I wondered if it might be an orchid and it turns out that it is! Rose pogonia (Pogonia ophioglossoides) is a native orchid also known as snakemouth.

However, I have just done a little bit more research and now I wonder if this is not an orchid but a member of the milkwort family called Fringed Polygala. It was growing very low to the ground and I think that Rose pogonia is taller (6-8 inches). Also, the flower we saw had only three petals. Alas, I think I was foiled, but now I will have to watch for Rose pogonia orchid on future outings!

Bruce Peninsula Orchid Festival

At long last, here are some pictures from our trip up to the Bruce Peninsula last month for the orchid festival.

I am very pleased to report that we saw 4 different species of orchids, 3 of which were in bloom and 2 of which were ladyslippers! We saw patches and patches of yellow ladyslipper at roadside and trailside, as well as a patch of ramshead orchids and some striped coralroot. We may have seen a couple of different varieties of yellow ladyslipper but I have yet to confirm this.

We ran out of time this year and did not make it over to Flowerpot Island to look for calypsos, but there is always next year!

Bruce Peninsula Orchid Festival

Next weekend, May 30 and 31, we are headed north to the Bruce Peninsula Orchid Festival. Looks like the weather should be perfect for the event - so far looks like sunny skies and not too hot or too cold - and hopefully we will find see some native species in bloom!

The Orchid Festival website has a list of 42 species of native orchids that can be found on the Bruce Peninsula. I'll be sure and post pictures of any orchids we see.

In the meantime, Flickr has a nice bunch of wild orchid pictures in their Wild Orchids pool.

UK orchid news this week

There has been quite a bit of talk in the UK news this past week (Shoreham, West Sussex) about a patch of 200 or so rare wild bee orchids (Ophrys apifera) that were accidentally mown down by a city worker.

In other UK orchid news, a number of Cayman Island ghost orchids were supposed to go on display at the Chelsea Flower Show this weekend in London. The ghost orchids, however, along with some banana orchids, were intercepted en route to London in the Netherlands by customs agents, according to the Cay Compass News Online, "because of European regulations restricting the trade of rare and endangered species of plants". The ghost orchids were collected on the Cayman Islands two years ago from land cleared and slotted for development.

Yvonne's Orchid Fancy / Schreiber's Orchids

Yesterday we finally made our trip out to a greenhouse north of the city - we had been planning on going before Christmas, but it seemed that every weekend this past winter there was a snow storm that would have made travel difficult and dangerous.

Yesterday was a warm and sunny day and we headed out of town with my little list of Paphiopedilums. I managed to stick pretty closely to what was on the list and I was only swayed by two additional items. Here are the new acquisitions:

Paph. acmodontum
Paph. bellatulum
Paph. henryanum
Paph. venustum
Paph. venustum album
Brassavola digbyana
Tolumnia henekenii

Shortly after we arrived, I was surprised and saddened to learn that Gary, who I had been in email communication with before Christmas regarding our list and who I had seen at one of the vendor stalls at the orchid show in Toronto in February, had passed away suddenly in early April. My condolences again to his family and friends - from the little communication I had with him I know that his passing has left a significant gap in the orchid world both around here and no doubt further afield as well.

Here are some pictures from the Schreiber greenhouses.

Blog anniversary and Cayman Island ghost orchid

This weekend marks the 3-year anniversary of our Orchidelirium orchid blog! I was hoping to have some new pictures to post this weekend, but our trip to a nearby greenhouse hasn't worked out yet. Watch for some greenhouse pictures in the next couple of weeks!

Meanwhile, I found an interesting article about ghost orchids on the Cayman Islands. I didn't know that the ghost orchid Dendrophylax fawcettii is found only in Grand Cayman. The very rare orchids were found on a section of land designated to be cleared for a new road so construction has been halted for the last few weeks. In case you're wondering like I was, the Florida ghost orchid is Polyradicion lindenii.

Here is another picture of the Grand Cayman ghost orchid.

Snowy calypso orchid

Sasha snapped this picture of a snowy fairy slipper orchid this past weekend while out hiking in a very late west coast winter snow storm!

Blog updates and Borneo showcase

Today I found a little bit of time to do some orchid blog spring cleaning. I have added a new blog to the Orchid blog list - Orchidaceous Blog, which features lots of regular and informative orchid posts. I have also made a few other little changes like banishing the Orchid Wishlists which were pretty stagnant for a long time!

I would also like to recommend taking a look at some of Eric Hunt's Orchid Species Photographs, including his showcase of an orchid expedition to Borneo last year. Eric has some great pictures of orchid species, as well as pictures of other flora of the area, including nepenthes as well as photos of scenery in the area (Sarawak, Sabah, Malaysia). I think I have at least one other blog post about Mount Kinabalu and it would definitely be an amazing place to visit for orchid enthusiasts!