We have been collecting and raising orchids for fifteen years and the greenhouse contains this large and varied collection. It is one of the largest private collections in the Northeast, containing over 375 unique species, hybrids, and mericlones and over 600 plants altogether. Some plants are huge, others are miniatures. Some are potted, others mounted on bark, tree fern or tree branches simulating the way they grow and thrive in nature. Phaleonopsis, vanda alliance, cattleya, laelia, oncidium alliance, bulbophyllum, paphiopedulum, miltonia, dendrobium, masdavellia, cymbidium and many rare species are all represented.

Orchid of the Week Archives

The greenhouse is just across the driveway from the inn and easily accessible for all our guests at both the inn and restaurant. It is always open for a leisurely stroll, but we are always available for a more detailed discussion of orchid biology or culture with particular attention to how to cultivate orchids in a home environment. If you have an orchid at home and are concerned about its health or culture, please feel free to bring it along and we'll see if we can help— we're even glad to repot your orchid if that is what it needs.

Cirrhopetalum medusae is named after the Greek Goddess, Medusa, who made love to Neptune in a temple and was punished by Minerva by replacing her beautiful hair with a head full of snakes. Each "group" is not an individual flower, but rather a cluster of some 50 individual flowers, each with two long petals which forms the bulk of what you see. The yellow near the top of the clusters are the lips of the individual flowers. This plant is unusual and is not commonly seen. It is growing mounted on a hydrolog, and needs lots of moisture and humidity. (Click to enlarge)

Coryanthes macrantha 'aurea' is one of the most successful flowers in the world at getting pollinated. There are two flowers in the picture (Click to enlarge). The orange structures in the middle are the lips, greatly enlarged and very complex. At the top there are glands that secrete a sweet, fragrant, but sticky substance which is very attractive to bees. After a time, their wings become inactivated by the substance and they fall into the bottom of the lip, which is filled with water. They can't fly so they crawl out the back of the "cup", where there is a narrow tunnel. You can see this on the flower on the right. The trick is that the pollen containing structure hangs right over this tunnel and the bee has no way to avoid it, virtually always becoming pollen laden as it escapes. It then dries out and flies on to another flower, repeating the process and depositing its pollen passengers to the female part of the column, which is just below the portion of the column which produces the pollen.

Please visit the American Orchid Society
for more information about these fascinating plants.

i n f o @ i n n w e s t o n . c o m
630 Main Street     Route 100     PO Box 66     Weston, Vermont 05161
Voice: (802) 824-6789     Fax: (802) 824-3073

Innkeepers Bob & Linda Aldrich

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