Ditto!

I'm sitting here with a nice glass of red wine thinking about memorial day. This morning at church, they handed out little plastic poppies to us veterans.
It reminded me of a time long, long ago when I used to help my mother sell these little flowers to raise money for the local VFW. We would stand on a downtown street corner with a little Pringles like can, slot in the top, and sell these things for a donation, nickel, dime or whatever. I don't know how much money we raised but it couldn't have been much. Thinking back on it now makes me realize just how much times have changed. For those veterans out there, thank you so much for your service and we are glad you are still with us. For those who didn't make it, we are forever grateful for your sacrifice and may you rest in peace knowing you will never be forgotten.

Jim

Thx you Jim, it feels heartfelt.

Ahmen.

Thank you Jim and to all Veterans and their families for all their sacrifices to keep us all free and safe!

Up in Canada those poppies are worn for Armistice Day aka Rememberance Day, November 11th. I always think of the poem 'In Flanders Fields' when I see them which brings a tear or two.

Also wondered why they celebrated with a flower that blooms in May. Its because the Commonwealth already celebrated Victoria Day in May so they honor veterans on the day of the WW1 peace treaty.

RIP, dear brother. Lt. Cmdr. Alan Ashe Patterson.

So sad, Melissa. He looks so young. Thinking about losing my own brother scares me deeply. I'm sorry for your loss

karmatree said:So sad, Melissa. He looks so young. Thinking about losing my own brother scares me deeply. I'm sorry for your loss

He was 34. I can't believe it has been 2 years. He was training two young pilots and one had an unrecoverable pilot error.

This is an oldie but goodie. Its the Blc. Greenwich "Elmhurst" AM/AOS. This is a division of the 10 year old "mother" plant. The 'Elmhurst' generally blooms twice a year now. It has nicely fragrant flowers.

Lovely!

Ken, I like that very much!

Nothing like the rare and unusual orchids all you y'all grow, but it is a nice, consistent bloomer, and a vigorous grower.

I did the behind-the-scenes tour of the MBG Friday and it was really interesting. What a huge tract of land and quite a business to run. Paul spent over two hours with us. The orchid greenhouses had lots of really huge plants, several in bloom, but you could tell they don't really have an "orchid-person" there to handle it all. Many of those plants were not labeled, and that's too bad. They could use some volunteers that only want to help with those specific greenhouses. One of these plants had huge "bulbs" with 3'x6" leaves. It was a real monster but was not in bloom. The last photo shows Dr. Paul Pudwell in the background. My wife is the photographer. I was too busy searching and talking.

Glad you got to see the greenhouses, Ken. My husband, Paul, is the main volunteer for the orchids. He is there all day nearly every Monday. Unfortunately, as you said, many orchids are unlabeled. They either came to the MBG without labels or were misplaced over the years. The MBG has not given any attention to the orchids for the last 15 years prior to Paul starting to volunteer. He and one other member from our society have turned the orchids around from almost losing the entire collection to something that is half decent, but it has taken a massive effort for the last 6 years.

In the process, they have garnered 4 AOS awards for cultural merit.

We have attempted to identify many of the species orchids with the help of AOS experts and have been somewhat successful. Unfortunately the hybrids can never be fully identity confirmed, which is a real shame.

The three big orchids in your photos are Den nobile, Den Gatton Sunray FCC/AOS, and Bulbophyllum phalaenopsis 'Magnifico' AM/AOS, CCM/AOS. The Bulbo was donated to the MBG from the collection of Jo Levy and has the scent of dead rotting meat.



Glad you enjoyed the trip. Next time, come sooner in the spring or later in the fall to see more blooms!

Paphiopedilum Cam's Cloud first blooming. I gifted this to a dear friend (who is a Paph expert) as a house warming present. I am certain that he will get many more blooms from it.

Ken, I thought that monster was Bulbo phalaenopsis, which is quite an interesting Orchid!
Thanks for sharing!
Nice Paph, Melissa! What a pretty present!

I did mention you and Paul to Rick. He said Paul had been a great help with the orchids. I goofed and said Dr. "Paul Pudwell" when I should have said "Dr. Rick Pudwell".

I am glad that monster was not in bloom. Perhaps it should be called "in heat".

Heck, it took me all of 60 years to get to the Gardens this one time. Literally, 60 years! I haven't been to Graceland either.

Sort of like me Ken. I think we get so much info on local places, that we don't feel the need to go. With me , it's Disneyland. I haven't been there in 35 years, at least. Heck, they rule the county...even have a section in the local paper. Why pay the ridicules price of admission. It's about 4 miles up the street.

A friend from my orchid society just asked me this question:

A writer who lives in my neighborhood is writing a murder mystery centering around the theft and black market distribution of extremely rare, outrageously expensive orchids. She wants to know if there are orchids, or other plants, which are so rare or expensive that someone might be willing to commit murder in order to have them. I can't think of any. Can you?

Any ideas?

Well, the Ghost Orchid has already been profiled in The Orchid Thief, so I wouldn't go there....
The Gold of Kinabalu Orchid is the most expensive in the world, $6,000 per stem and is located in a protected area of Malaysia. Google it, that could hold some adventure for a novelist!

These Encyclia tampensis blooms are small compared to the others in this thread but they are mighty!