What’s Blooming in the Office?

It appears to be Weird Plant Week in my Boise office. Both the Bulbophyllum “Daisy Chain” and a Butterwort are in bloom.

“Bulbos” are orchids that scarcely look the part. As seen in the photo at left, the flowers on this popular hybrid look like daisies that got trimmed accidentally. They don’t have petals all the way around, and the flowers live for only a week or less.

The American Orchid Society says bulbos are the largest group of orchids, and describes the plant as a “creeping epiphyte” – that is, it grows on tree trunks and new growth shoots out from the sides rather than the plant becoming taller.

And bulbos love to stay wet. They live in rain forests and prefer at least 60 percent humidity. That could be why mine always look pretty ragged, only producing a couple flowers at a time. But they’re so odd and cool that I can’t help but keep trying! 

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The Pinguicula (photo on right), also needs a lot of moisture. Commonly known as a Butterwort, it is not an orchid, but plays a critical role in my plant collection as a bug-catcher.

On friends' recommendations, I bought several carnivorous plants recently and have been delighted to see that they really work to keep gnats at bay.

It was a bonus to find a tiny, pretty flower on one of them this week. I’m still learning about them. Apparently, so are the gnats..!