The Writhlington Orchid Project

Greetings from the UK! First an apology; No, I didn’t post as many photos as possibly I would have liked to. The internet connections while out there were slow and temperamental at the best of times, and it was nice to be able to catch up a little bit. We’ll be chucking loads and loads [...]

Having just returned from a two week trip to the Sikkim Himalaya I can’t help but notice the wonderful Himalayan orchids flowering in the Writhlington Orchid Project greenhouses. I feel that one of the best things about growing exotic plants in a greenhouse is the way it transports you to the world’s most exciting habitats.

The Sikkim 2010 group departed this weekend for their 10 days in (in my oppinion) the most amazing place in the world.  The twelve adults with interests ranging from photography to rhododendrons (and orchids of course!) left with our very own Simon Pugh-Jones and Kew’s Dr Lauren Gardiner.  I’m sure they’ll have an amazing time! [...]

Orchid seeds are incredible.  One orchid seed pod can have up to 2.6 million seeds in.  This is a brilliant survival technique for the orchid, but such an advantage comes at a price.  Each orchid seed must be invaded by a mycorrhizal fungas.  The orchid seed then uses the fungas to give it the energy [...]

New year is a time we think about all the lovely people we work with around the world. So Happy New Year to our friends in Durban both at the Botanic Garden and at West Park School. Happy New Year as well  to the pupils and staff at the Erica Primary School in Cape Town, [...]

That’s right people! We’re now reaching the final stages of the ‘Orchid celebration evening’ preparations here at the Writhlington Orchid Project.  This includes tidying plants for the display stand and putting together our presentations for you on our past expeditions. This will include a presentation from the Durban team, who’s blog you have been following [...]