Sunday, March 05, 2017

An Orchid Secret Garden

Last Tuesday, down the hill and around the corner to a piece of paradise was my destination.  I had heard
that the owner's orchids were in bloom.  However, until I stepped through the opening to the area where the
orchids were in huge pots surrounding a small, round swimming pool, I would never have imagined such a
sight.
 Luckily, since I live so close, I arrived a little early for the garden club meeting.  I wandered through all the various gardens and ended up where we were going to hear a talk by the man who started the Orchid Club
in San Miguel, Jim Roberts.
 Stunning does not begin to describe the beauty of this secret garden.  Surrounding the pool were
very large pots full to brimming with orchids.  The orchids were about four to five feet high! Incredible.
The gardener was introduced prior to the program and was asked about growing the orchids.  He started with one small plant and divided that plant and subsequent plants for several years.  When asked what he
uses for fertilizer, he says he uses bananas that are so old their skin is black.  The bananas are stuffed down onto the orchid bulb in the pot.  All I can surmise is that the bananas are providing some chemical or potassium that makes the orchids grow like this.

We asked the owner of the house if they move all these pots when it is winter.  No, nothing.  We do get nights in the high 20's often in December and January!  My thought is that the humidity and warmth of the water in the pool protects and enhances the orchids.

As I sat listening to the speaker and the meeting, seriously, I felt this wonderful serenity.  Could it have
been from the orchids or the setting that was exquisitely beautiful?  Probably so.

Don't forget you can click on the photos to enlarge them!  Enjoy.

8 comments:

Retired Teacher said...

I've never attempted to grow orchids, but they are beautiful. We both saw orchids this week... I went to the Cleveland Botanical Garden last Wednesday for their annual orchid show.

Babs said...

Bill, as green a thumb as you have, you could grown orchids inside. Join the orchid group up there. You will be surprised how easy they are to grow. I have two in the house. One has been blooming since last September!

Tancho said...

That is one beautiful garden. When you get back, and happen to be at that location again, could you take a few photos of the pond/pool for me. I would like to show my contractor so we can use some of those ideas for our possible project.
I wish we had energy to sustain something like that, unfortunately very few people understand the complexities of planting interacting plants etc, to have a beautiful end result like that. They do know how to plan rows of corn though...

TakeToTheHighwaydotcom said...

Have you visited Orquídeas Moxviquil in San Cristobal de las Casas? If not, you should try to get there while in Chiapas...it's a beautiful spot!

Unknown said...

Absolutely fabulous - thank you so much for sharing!!

Babs said...

Tancho, that is a private residence, so I don't know when I'll be backover there. When I return to SMA, I'll look through my other photos and see if I have more photos of the pool. (I'm in Chiapas)


Take to the Highway, I'll be going there on Saturday or Sunday before heading to Chiapa de Corzo......I had scoped it out because you told me about it a couple of
years ago! Thanks

Hi Robin, thanks for commenting. Glad you enjoyed seeing the photos.

Elisabeth said...

Just gorgeous!

Babs said...

I'm glad you enjoyed the photos Elizabeth.