Herself’s Houston Garden

The scent of a plant is one of the many reasons we love those flowers. Orchids give off complex scents un-duplicated by perfume manufacturers. What lies lie in the scents of orchids?

Dendrobium sinense orchids on the Chinese island of Hainan, mimic the scent a honey bee makes when it is in distress. This scent is used to warn other bees to stay away. Hornets that eat the bees know the scent and land on the orchids producing the scent hoping to find food. The orchid gets pollinated, the hornet goes away hungry.

New orchid deception found: wearing the scent of hornet’s prey

Ophrys orchids give off the same scent that female bees give off when attracting a mate. Male bees come to the Ophrys orchid looking for a mate and pollinate the orchid while there. But it’s not just Ophrys, 18 of 20 orchids tested gave off at least trace amounts of alkenes.

Female bees are much better at pollinating plants, but male bees travel further. Plants who specifically target male bees will spread and receive pollen from a wider range of plants.

Evolution of sexual mimicry in the orchid subtribe orchidinae

Florescence Elements flower show

I don’t know if it was the recession or the ‘Elements’ theme of this years garden show but there were far more smaller designs and none of the flashy huge designs that were there last show. Orange and green were everywhere. Funny thing that they show up everywhere when the economy slows down. I’d even replaced my white dishes with green ones a few months back.

Small water gardens, small landscapes and smaller designs were everywhere. Proteas again stole the show it’s a shame they won’t grow here. And who knew that artichoke plants were so very cool? I must have one. It’ll be an annual here our winters are too cold for it.

( photos of the tiny arrangements, small water gardens and dish gardens are on Herself’s Houseplants Florescence photos )

Plants that flower in shade are rare, and rarer still is it to find one with bright colors. This plant is striking in a shady garden.

This plant dies back to the ground when the weather gets cold and it is the very last plant to come up every spring.

This plant will reach about 2′ tall and is bushy in form.

This plant needs moist soil, it is not drought tolerant.

This plant is from the Caribbean. It does not like strong sun, keep it from direct sun. Other growers report it does better in areas away from sprinkler heads so go easy on the water but take care not to let it dry out.

I ended up giving this one away.