Monday Meanderings – Botanical Building, San Diego

Botanical Building Orchids

While visiting  San Diego, recently, we visited the Botanical Building in Balboa Park.  Our timing was perfect, as most of the orchids were in full bloom!  I love orchids and  have a few which recently bloomed at home.

The Botanical Building was built for the 1915-16 Exposition and is one of the largest lath structures in the world. The Botanical Building  includes more than 2,100 permanent plants, including a large collection of  orchids and other tropical plants.

I’m going to let the rest of the pictures speak for themselves-no words.  I hope you enjoy the wonderment and beauty of these flowers.  If you are an artist/artisan perhaps their colors and forms will inspire you to create.  Enjoy.

 

Monday Meanderings – Too Pretty For Words

{Monday Meanderings: Musings & Observations From Beyond the Bead Studio}

Three weeks ago I showed you this orchid in bud.  Look what has happened in the meantime!

A few words about this corner of my studio.  The orchid is perched on an antique Hamilton printers cabinet that houses many of my beads.  On the wall to the left, is a hand painted Tlingit drum that my husband bought for me many years ago when I taught at Wa He Lute Indian School. To the left of the drum, is a silk wall hanging of autumn leaves,  that I painted (dyed).

Orchid Blooms

{Monday Meanderings: Musings & Observations From Beyond the Bead Studio}

Two Blooming Orchids!

I’ve been growing orchids on my kitchen window sill for about 10 years now.  My husband gave me a new Phalaenopsis (aka: Moth Orchid) for my birthday.  It was blooming in September when I received it and, amazingly, it is blooming again now. The fuchsia and yellow colors are so bold and bright in the middle of a long gray Pacific Northwest winter.  I get a little boost of joy every time I see it.

I also have an Ocidium Orchid (aka:  Dancing Dolls) that is just about to bloom.  With the buds still closed, I’ve grown to appreciate the stem structure.  It looks like a beautiful Chinese brush painting.  There are over 50 little buds on this–I started counting them and gave up at 50!  When they bloom, the flowers will be bright yellow with burnt orange markings.  In Central America, they are nicknamed “Huevos con Chorizo” (eggs and sausage).