Photo of the Day: Cymbidium Golden Vanguard, Phipps Conservatory, Pittsburgh PA

I photographed this orchid while at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh last October. I am sure that the Orchid Room at this local treasure would be appreciated by perhaps the most famous orchid lover in fiction, Rex Stout’s private detective Nero Wolfe, who kept a greenhouse on the top floor of his New York brownstone residence. 

Warm- to cool-growing, the yellow beauty in this picture blooms from early summer through early winter. It is best to water it once a week in summer but every 10 days in winter.

I am sorry that Pittsburgh residents and visitors won’t have the chance to visit Phipps—at least for a while—due to the coronavirus. It presents, in every room, what every person needs a reminder of: the beauty of God’s handiwork in nature.

Photo of the Day: Moth Orchid, New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY

I took the attached photo in mid-June, when, for the first time, I visited one of the true treasures of New York-- The New York Botanical Garden.

The formal name of this specimen from the plant kingdom is phalaenopsis, but that’s a mouthful, and most people simply prefer “the moth orchid.”  It’s considered the best orchid for growing at home, for a variety of reasons:

*Average home temperatures are usually right for it;

*It grows easily in a bright window; and,

*If it needs it, artificial lighting can be provided.

This type of orchid is especially popular in my neck of the woods, the Northeast. My guess is that Nero Wolfe, the corpulent but brilliant detective created by Rex Stout, took special care with this in his West 35^th Street brownstone.