As winter continues….drags on really, one of my favorite tropical orchids came into flower. It’s a Phragmidedium called Stairway to Heaven. Why is it one of my favorites? The petals surrounding the pouch of this ladyslipper droop dramatically compared to the overall plant. I don’t know why that’s something that’s intriguing to me but it really captures my attention. The unfortunate part is that they only bloom for about a month and then they’re done until the next shoot matures so there’s a relatively short window to capture these blooms.
With winter continuing and the ground in a deep sleep under a blanket of snow, a craving begins to grow to see the greenery of plants growing. For this orchid to produce it’s beautiful flowers at this time of year couldn’t be more perfect. It’s always a challenge to capture the long petals as they hang lower than the height of the orchid plant itself. I decided to work with illuminating the inside of these ladyslippers again much like almost a year ago and see what features these little LED’s could highlight.
Using these little lights brings an interesting look to the orchids but also presents a challenge trying to add them so they don’t distract from the flowers or alter their position on the plant. Additionally, trying not to damage the flowers or plant while adding the lights is a concern causing me to work more deliberately and slowly. Wrecking a flower would be very disappointing as I wait for a long time and spend a fair amount of energy growing these to get them to bloom and waiting until the plant is ready to flower again seems to take forever.
Blooming at the same time as this ladyslipper were a couple of Phalaenopsis. One is a taller plant while the other is a dwarf adding more color to the winter windowsill. Fortunately these last longer than the ladyslipper so I concentrated my attention of capturing the many details of Stairway to Heaven which make it one of my favorite orchids.
Besides the long petals what makes this one of my favorites? The pouch of ladyslippers is always a part of orchids that are fun for me with all of their different spots and patterns. Another part that’s enjoyable is the petals are fuzzy and very soft to touch bringing a relaxing sensation while rubbing a finger across them. They are so soft! Not a lot of orchids seem to have this feature. Now that this Phragmipedium is flowering, I’ve moved it into an area I see on a daily basis so I can enjoy it as much as possible. A nice distraction from the cold on the other side of the window.
