Reed Stem Orchid

Reed Stem Orchid

Epidendrum Princess Valley 'Innocence'

(ep-ih-DEN-drum)

Wordless Wednesday

Star Orchid

Reed Stem Orchid

Epidendrum cv.

(ep-ih-DEN-drum)

Synonyms: Star Orchid, Crucifix Orchid

These cute little orchids have really won me over. At first they were not impressive to me but their collection of small flowers always seems to have nice lighting and a face for the camera. We haven’t had much luck cultivating them at home but I have a feeling that is on our end and not the plants, although it is easier to blame the plants. Generally they come in a red/yellow/orange color scheme and seem very floriferous.

Our band is getting back together tonight for the first time in 6 weeks as our bass player is done lounging around the Jersey shore. I expect chaos as everyone brings in all the songs we have been learning during the break. Its time to book some gigs and that responsibility is falling in my lap.

Reed Stem Orchid

Reed Stem Orchid
Epidendrum cv.
(ep-ih-DEN-drum)
Synonyms: Star Orchid, Crucifix Orchid

This orchid picture was taken at the Foster Botanical Garden in Honolulu last year. It is one of my favorite places on the island of Oahu. Located right in the city it was laid out a long time ago and has a lot of mature plantings. The garden is always one of my first stops when visiting. They had an interesting collection of Orchids in bloom on our last visit. I used to kind of look down on Reed Stem Orchids because the flowers are small and not as showy as some of their relatives. The flowers have kind of won me over with their colors, detailed clusters of blooms and ease of cultivation. This cultivar seemed particularly bright and happy. It reminded me of the candy corn that you see on Halloween.

Reed Orchid

Reed Orchid
Epidendrum
(ep-ih-DEN-drum)
Synonyms: Star Orchid

This was a pleasant surprise at work this week when we were putting the Orchid collection inside and found this little Epidendrum was blooming. It is kind of a testament to how easy these orchids are to grow. Nothing has been done to it all summer. The sprinklers have been watering the plants and I hadn’t even looked at them since late May. This picture was taken downstairs inside the conservatory, which is always a challenge even though the lighting isn’t that bad.

We put a lot of the foliage indoors just in case. I am not anticipating a frost but if it comes there will be a lot less scrambling. Some of the tropical plants do not need a frost to sustain damage. Extended temperatures in the 30’s (F) can cause enough damage that they don’t look good. It is better to be safe than sorry.

Reed Stem Orchid

Reed Stem Orchid
Epidendrum cv.
(ep-ih-DEN-drum)
Synonyms: Star Orchid, Crucifix Orchid

I am not sure of the name of this Reed Orchid as it was growing at someone’s house but it is a nice cultivar and seemed happy to be outside for the summer.

Yesterday was a music day as I rushed home to catch Selena Gomez’s live stream concert broadcast from NYC. I think it crashed part way through the show. What were they expecting as Selena has almost 9 million Facebook friends? At night someone invited me to see Big Head Todd and the Monsters at our local concert venue, The Ridgefield Playhouse. Not knowing what to expect the band was quite good and I had a good time.

Eternal Snow Reed Stem Orchid

White Reed Stem Orchid
Epidendrum ‘Eternal Snow’
(ep-ih-DEN-drum)
Synonyms: Star Orchid, Crucifix Orchid

This plant stumped Google and that doesn’t happen to often. I took this picture at an Orchid Nursery in Hawaii and remember being very surprised to see a white Reed Orchid. Before seeing this one I had only seen bright colors like orange, yellow and red. The white was a nice change. The flowers are small but make up for that by blooming in groups.

Epidendrums have been featured here before see this post for more information on the genus and some cultural information.

I am glad it is Friday as there is a busy weekend coming up. I have to get my little nephew his first train ride. There aren’t many trains in Hawaii where he lives (unless you count the rather lame Sugar Cane Train).

Reed Stem Orchid - Epidendrum

Reed Stem Orchid
Epidendrum ‘Michael’s Rubelite’
(ep-ih-DEN-drum)
Synonyms: Star Orchid, Crucifix Orchid

I think this orchid is named right, I bought it at a small plant sale so I wasn’t sure. It was blooming at work a couple of weeks ago and probably still is, since the flowers last a long time. I took this using the on camera flash since the light in the Conservatory is a little low, especially on a cloudy day.

Epidendrum is not the showiest Orchid to grow but is one of the easiest. It is an epiphyte type. Epiphyte is used to describe plants that attach itself to another plant for support. It is not parasitic and very rarely damages the host. Often referred to as “air plants” since they do not root in soil this only describes some of the epiphyte type plants, as there are some aquatic plants that are in this category, also. Epidendrum is a huge (mega) genus of Orchids and are native to the tropical and semitropical regions of North and South America. They grow in almost all conditions and elevations and have been distributed and naturalized all over the world. There thought to be about 900 species in the genus.

These are Orchids are easy to grow and can take a variety of conditions when grown indoors or outdoors. The main cause for them not to flower is low light. If yours isn’t flowering move it to an area that has brighter light. They do like a lot of water and regular fertilization.


I took this sunrise picture last week. I don’t remember which day but it was one of the few clear days. It seems like it has been cloudy a lot lately. The colors aren’t bad for Connecticut, eh? When it has been clear there have been some really, really nice sunrises. I guess that is one benefits of living on top of a huge hill. I know one of the bad things is how fast the wind whips through here in the winter.

More Orchids from NYC

Vuylstekeara Patico 'Pacific Knights'

I thought I had lost all my photos from my trip to the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden this year. Turns out the pictures were right there where I had put them. I might go to the show again as it doesn’t look like I will be working till the end of the week and only then if I am lucky. I just renewed my membership and got my parking passes and I am dying to take a few plant pictures so it is adding up for me.



Epidendrum Moon Valley ‘Sunkist’


Both of these Orchids had wonderful color. 'Pacific Knights' is a nice large flower on plants that were blooming profusely. The smaller Orchid’s flower head almost looked like a Primrose. When you got closer you could see the details in the petals and the delicate color shadings. I looked both of these specific Orchids up and found very few references.

Reed Orchid (Epidendrum)

Reed Orchid
Epidendrum
(ep-ih-DEN-drum)

Well I ended up going to the garden party and had a nice time. The weather cleared and it turned into a nice day. The garden was tremendous and the people we met were equally as exciting. They really had a tremendous collection of tropicals and I didn’t envy their job of removing all the plants from the ground in the next couple of weeks. Many were planted directly in the ground. The garden also had a nice collection of conifers, both dwarf and full size. I asked the owner if I could visit his garden again in the next couple of weeks and see it without all the people and tents and he agreed. That is something I will look forward too.

This picture is one I found as I was cleaning up my hard drive. It is from the New York Botanical Garden’s Orchid show this spring. That was quite a show as they were hundreds of thousands of orchid flowers. I don’t know enough about orchids. I do have a lot of respect for the flowers and the people that grow them. As I remember this was tagged ‘Reed Orchids’ but I failed to write down the species. These orchids are recommended and easy to care for (according to my research). It just brings back that welcome feeling I had in the spring when I walked into the Conservatory and saw and smelled all those flowers.