Orchid Home Garden

Orchids are still very popular plants for the home and garden, although many gardeners get overwhelmed with the huge number of orchid species and knowing their particular growing conditions. Here I will summarize the different types of orchids and suggest which ones would be best suited for your orchid home garden. The orchid family has over 30,000 species and more than double this number of cultivars or hybrids. Thus we need to understand a bit of orchid ecology before we select orchids for our home or garden. There are four broad types of orchid, each coming from a different growing environment. There are the climbing epiphytes, whose roots attach to the bark of trees, and the saprophytes which live on decaying matter. Terrestrial orchid plants grow in the soil and lithophytes can survive on rocks with very little soil.

The home gardener therefore needs to choose plants depending where she wants to display them. Fortunately plant breeders have done the selection for us and now days there are many varieties of easy-to-grow orchids that we can raise. The most common orchids found in garden centers are the Cattleya, Dendrobium, Cymbidium, Ondontoglossum, Paphiopedilum, Oncidium and the Phalaenopsis. As an orchid gardener you'll need to decide what is best for your own particular situation - space available, climatic conditions and the color of the orchid blooms which you like the most. I have listed the most popular garden and home orchids to give you an idea what to choose.

Cattleya:
This orchid is also known as the "Queen of Orchids". They are epiphytic orchids from temperate regions.

Dendrobium:
These epiphytic orchid plants produce a generous spay of flowers and there are many different colors found among Dendrobium varieties.

Cymbidium:
Cymbidium orchids originate from South America and are among the most common home and garden orchids found, mainly due to the blooms lasting for months.

Ondontoglossum:
These are cool growing Tiger orchids, originating from the Andes Mountains. Their colorful flowers usually have delicate patterns and markings.

Paphiopedilum:
Originating from East Asia, flowers often are stripped or spotted. Commonly known as the Slipper Orchid, they have broad leaves and prefer indirect sunlight.

Oncidium:
These South American epiphytes prefer a drier potting mix and have distinctive mottled markings.

Phalaenopsis:
Also known as the Moth orchid and their flowers come in a wide variety of colors.
Once you have chosen your orchid plants, you may need further advice and help in caring for your orchids. Come and visit Orchid Care for more orchid care advice.

Jan Wilson is an orchid enthusiast and has her own orchid care website at Orchid-Care.org.

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