While familiar in form to most of us, orchid flowers retain a sense of the profoundly exotic, especially those blooms of the Paphiopedilum variety. These distinctive orchids have been collected from their forest floor and canopy habitats of Southeast Asia, and are now widely cultivated and hybridized. I have never managed to keep a Paphiopedilum maudiaeContinue reading “In full bloom, Paphiopedilum maudiae”
Tag Archives: unusual
Velella Velella
It was on a whim one day, a short drive down the coast from Monterey, California, to see if the rumors were true. Unusual sea creatures washing up, gelatinous, some completely clear, some bright blue, with delicate translucent sails. Arriving at the beach, at first glance the tangle of kelp appeared to hold tiny circlesContinue reading “Velella Velella”
Glass Beach, Mendocino
I was hoping the rumors were true; a quiet, wild, little stretch of beach on the Mendocino coast near the city of Fort Bragg, strewn with colorful pebbles of sea-glass. As it turns out, this spot is definitely not a secret, as signs will lead the curious traveler from Highway 1 to the sizeable parkingContinue reading “Glass Beach, Mendocino”
