Orchid Days in November

It has been such a dreamy day in Edinburgh, thinking about orchid, snow and history.

Well, it all started last night with the snow. I was hanging out with Tom after class and as we walked to the Old Town the snow started. It was beautiful against the trees outlined in with Christmas lights.

Today I took a moment to visit the farmers' market and take a walk through the city. It was a bit unnerving that 1 p.m. looked like 4 p.m., but the golden light on the old buildings was worth it. The streets were full of tourists visiting for the Christmas celebrations and the farmers' market was full of tasty meats and produce from local farmers and artisans. Lots of great spoils from the day, thanks to the wonderful ladies and gentlemen there who helped me get some great deals (including a pack of local striped bacon and three pounds of local Aberdeen Angus for 12 pounds). I was even fortunate to catch a glimpse of snow on the hills north of here as I walked home. Stunning.

The view from the kitchen window this afternoon, about 2:30 p.m.

Anyway, the night was complete with a surprise Christmas fireworks show right outside of Patrick Geddes Hall and homemade hot chocolate I made to celebrate the chilly occasion. A busy, productive day.

It's a bit of a stretch, but this is a fitting way to end a great week!

Dracula bella, an orchid that is pollinated by fungus gnats, which you can understand if you give the mushroom-like lip a sniff.

Click here for more photos from orchid classes.

We've turned toward conservation issues and focused on orchids this Thursday and Friday. Of course I was beside myself most of the time, because orchids are my favorite plants (among many)! We had a lecture about orchids Thursday morning, followed by a practical in the afternoon, where we drew flowers, talked about morphology, and scents. Friday morning we were in another practical on basic pollination biology. It was nice to get back to the plants again.

In honor of this occasion I'd like to finally share my photos from my afternoon in the orchid greenhouse at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. While what you'll see at the link below might just seem like a stream of photos, it can also contribute to a body of work on the phenology of orchids, or the studying of timing of natural cycles in plants (and animals). Even so, they're just so cool!!

I would like to leave you with the final thought Kerry left us with after his orchid lecture:

'Man's mastery of the Earth pays him greatest tribute when he achieves the humility to leave some of it alone.' -Unknown

Click here for photos of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh's Orchid Collection.

Rhynchostylis? of some kind.

A glimpse of Edinburgh

 

Click here for more photos

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted. There are so many posts in the works, so many photos of beautiful things, but I have to be realistic: I'm still in graduate school and I can't forget that!

It was a beautiful weekend though, and this afternoon, despite it getting almost completely dark by 4 p.m., was stunning. Time to share some photos while I can. You can read more about each photo at the link above.

Class is going well and we only have a couple of weeks left of actual class. We'll have some time to breathe, but it will still be filled with studying and preparing for our 12-day trip to Belize in January. In the mean time there will be an American Thanksgiving dinner and a British Christmas dinner.