Landscaping With Orchids

[epiphyte]

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as an orchid on a tree. (apologies to Joyce Kilmer)

Not sure if my fascination stems from epiphytic orchids being so wonderfully adapted or perhaps because much of my youth was spent climbing trees...enjoying how they would gently sway in the wind and appreciating being able to see farther...not unlike standing on the shoulder's of giants. Hmmm... "Orchids: Standing On the Shoulder's of Giants"...a little lengthy but not a bad title for a book.

I recently submitted a proposal to the Fullerton Arboretum on mounting orchids on their trees. It's a fairly detailed proposal and might be of some use if you've ever considered growing orchids on trees.

For some inspiration here are 500+ photos of orchids on trees. For those on Flickr I created a group dedicated to landscaping with orchids.

[Oasis CR]

Most of mine are on Guititi trees.Acnistus arborescens is the very best tree for epiphytes.Nothing else comes remotely close.
Here's an Oncidium Kramerianum. Don't say psychopsis. It was Oncidium back when I found it and it still is .
Like this.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30121645@N08/3595040503/

[Vincent]

A great collection of pics - thanks!

[Alice-NJ]

Yes, thanks for the wonderful pics!

[epiphyte]

Just ran across an article about a lady in Brazil named Lily Breda who convinced city officials to spend around $100,000 (is that right?) to attach 8000 orchid seedlings to trees in Brasília's botanical garden!!

Orchids beautify the city

The article is written in Portuguese but if you use Google Chrome you can click one button and Chrome will translate the entire page into English. Or you can copy and paste the text into Google Translate.

The translation isn't great. For example...the first couple of translated sentences are a little... well... off...

"For now, they go unnoticed. Are girls, tied with string to trunks."

...but you'll get the gist.

[trdyl]

I loved the article. Only if more places would do this.

[EdM-in-TN]

It will be interesting to see if any of the orchids survive. It was my understanding that Brasilia is far too hot and dry to naturalize Cattleyas without a lot of care. For instance, right now is the middle of the winter in Brasilia. Today its 82F and no rain in sight, and these are the cool months when it averages about two inches of rain per month. Then summer, January and February, it averages about 95F with constant rain day and night for weeks. It doesn't sound very "Cattleya Friendly", but what do I know.

[jefcully]

It is a great collection of pics ! Thanks for sharing it ! I also fascinated by Article.It is a very good knowledgeable Article.and brilliant idea on it. I hope that people have sensitivity to preserve these species.

[Ricardo in PR]

I tried landscaping with orchids around my mother's house but it turned out to be a rather strenous undertaking. Why? Because there are a lot of things that grow faster than an orchid and will try to take over the bed mount of trunk. Especially vexing are the morning glory vines which grow at very rapid rates and invade a planting at the drop of a hat. Mormodica charantia, a bird trasported vine is also mighty annoying, and don't get me talking about bat disperced piperaceae. The only time where there is a bit of slacking in the unending weeding is at the height of the dry season. Newly mounted epiphytic plants need particular care until they have developed a good root system attached to the tree.

[Jecs Duminy]

I love orchids too and asked a florist if it was ok to keep in my room and he said it was fine. All the orchids we have outside are in the shade of a bigger tree too, so I say, stick with the orchids!