Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Mini Orchid-Haraella odorata

Haraella odorata

I love this miniature orchid. I have many of these diminutive orchids, but this one which to me resembles a pansy, is my favorite.  The odorata in the name means it has an odor or "sweet citrus fragrance" as the books say. I'm going to go smell mine right now....Okay, I'm back. I don't know how anyone could say that it has a smell. I've only ever had 2 flowers on the plant at once and unless you have 10-20 flowers, I don't know how you could smell these flowers. I sniffed it and the whole flower almost went up my nose. It is cute though.....
 

 

The picture above is of the frame I filled with chicken wire to hang my mini orchids on.  This hangs on the side of the cupboards in my west window over my kitchen sink. This is a perfect place for these orchids because the steam from the stove and sink is beneficial to them.

Haraella odorata flower close-up
 This plant is not planted in a pot, but mounted on a piece of tree fern bark. All my miniature orchids are mounted instead of being in pots and hang over my sink on these frames. Not only is the humidity in the kitchen beneficial, having them in an obvious place reminds me to water them and I can also enjoy the flowers, as they are so small. Obviously my eyes are as bad as my nose!
Next time you are at an orchid show, don't overlook these miniatures in favor of the larger blooms.


 

4 comments:

  1. Next time I'm at the Flea Market I will pick up a few.

    ReplyDelete
  2. They sell mini orchids at the flea market?! Wow!

    ReplyDelete
  3. They are precious~putting them on my plant lust list! I bought a tiny orchid at Whole Foods of all places. It kept its blooms so perfect for so long (like months) one day I decided it must be some kind of realistic plastic, so I stopped watering it. Then a leaf turned brown and I laughed and laughed...it is doing fine now but all the blooms did eventually fall off. Silly Me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I buy mini phalaenopsis at Trader Joe's. The flowers last forever and then I put them under lights with my African violets and they bloom again the next year. Love them!

      Delete