A couple of his goals are: to always have a couple of orchids in bloom so that they can become living flower arrangements in the house; and to have orchids not only growing in a protected environment (shade house) but also throughout the garden. In the 18 months of living in Maleny he has achieve both these goals.
Below are a but a few orchids Graham has blooming at the moment. I photographed them inexpertly in passing with the iPhone to just share the beauty of his efforts. And I don't know their names.
And the following is a good example of the success in the great outdoors.
Graham tries to encourage Fiona and I to take up growing orchids; but after several failures where we have had to return sick plants to his orchid hospital I think he has given up and now just shares the fruits of his labour with us. On the other hand I do try to encourage Graham to start a blog on his orchids as he has much beauty to share.
We do have a few Australian native orchids scattered about our place but they thrive on tough love. The motto of our block for any plants is - "you've got to be tough to live on the block".
Beautiful series of photos, I love those flowers, great compositions of delicious colors. Saludos.
ReplyDelete...and congrats to Graham for such a lovely healthy display in these dry conditions. I love to draw orchids - really inspirational xoxoxo
ReplyDeletewow aboutt these orchids. i wouldn't dream of trying any in the house, i'm so negligent to my longsuffering house plants.
ReplyDeleteExquisite! I particularly love to see orchids growing outside.
ReplyDeleteThat first one... Sweet. I hear they're hard to grow. I've only had one and let's just say it didn't stick around. They are quite beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI also tried growing an orchid once.. it went to the orchid hospital too.
ReplyDeleteThese are gorgeous and look like an expert took the photos.
L, N, V, R, SZQ, & D - seems like we all love to appreciate orchids but will leave it up to the likes of Graham to grow them for we mere mortals to appreciate. Interesting to see how many of us have tried the orchid thing only to destroy them. R - I agree I love the outdoor varieties and Graham has quite a few growing - Maleny seems to be an OK place for them. Go well - may we all take the time to smell the roses and appreciate the delicacy of the orchids. B
ReplyDeleteSuch great shapes and colours. I always thought orchids were relatively easy to grow?... maybe just cymbidiums.
ReplyDeletewow!! Graham definitely has green fingers! how lush his orchids look.
ReplyDeletetho i do like your motto ;P becos like you, i would have killed the orchids too! cactus, succulents, tilandsia and staghorns would be just fine for me ;)
did you know that Malaysia is one of the biggest exporter of orchids? and they even cast these flowers in resin to preserve their beauty. wouldn't it be great if you can get some of these life flowers and preserve them in your bowls filled with resin? hmmm... i wonder ....