Monday, February 17, 2020

Dendrochilum smithianum (pulcherimum), close-up

I recently shared a photo of my Dendrochilum smithianum (one of the orchids "on a stick" I picked up at last year's Northwest Flower & Garden Fest) on my Instagram and danger garden Facebook pages. I was excited that it had sent out blooms and wanted to shout about it from the roof-tops. Jennifer (of the blog RockRose) asked for a close up of the flower. I had to laugh, seriously Jennifer? They're tiny...

I tried...

And then I remembered this handy little tool Andrew's family gave me at Christmastime. It attaches to my iPhone's camera lens and magnifies (as well as lights) the subject you're curious about. It's designed to help ID garden pests, but why not use it for close-ups of tiny orchid blooms?

Here are the images I managed to capture...

Pretty cool to see those tiny flowers in such detail. Luckily, my next orchid to bloom, Paphiopedilum var. (likely in the P. Maudiae 'group' of hybrids), will have a much larger flower. And yes, I bought it about to bloom...I am not responsible for this bit of beauty.

My apologies if you happened to see a post on artist Dustin Gimbel's garden that's no longer here. Blogger (the platform I use for blogging) had some strange hiccups Sunday evening. It lost the post while it was still in draft form and then doubled it and published one right away when I scheduled it for later in the week. It will show up "for real" on Friday, Feb 21st. Sorry for any confusion.

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Weather Diary, Feb 16: Hi 52, Low 36/ Precip .01

All material © 2009-2020 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

18 comments:

  1. The flowers may be tiny but their appearance is still impressive. I was confused when I saw the Gimbel post late yesterday and subsequently concluded that you'd had a glitch. They happen!

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    1. Unfortunately they do. I still have your comment, unpublished. It will be interesting to see if I can publish it to Friday's post when it goes live.

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  2. Nice little tool! The clarity on the images was very good for such a small little device. Always love your posts, thanks!

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    1. Always love it when you come by and comment!

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  3. I have one of these gadgets too. I could never really get mine to focus well, but I have gotten a new phone since then...I should try again.

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    1. The first time I used it was when I found little beetles in the paprika. So gross, but not uncommon according to my research.

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  4. Thanks Loree. I suspected they might be hiding an interesting flower. I wonder who comes in to pollinate?

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    1. That is a very good question! Who ever they are, they definitely aren't living in my basement. (thanks for the inspiration to try to capture the blooms)

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  5. Congrats on the blooms! And impressive close-ups for that type of device. I always wonder if they're worth it or just gimmicky toys. And you've reminded me I want more Paphiopedilums. But I also want to downsize my indoor collection....my eternal conflict...

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  6. Very clever and useful tool. With two orchids now does this mean you are dipping your toes into orchid collection?

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    1. I actually have 5 of them, so I guess so...

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  7. A clever tool as a Christmas gift. I'm glad it came in handy in a better circumstance than identifying pests. Maybe the orchid bloom will open in time for the next GBBD. Could it be any more impressive than the bud already is?

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  8. Well, how cool is this! Love seeing those tiny blooms you can't normally see without a loop. I saw a lady with a lens on her iphone when I was on a fern id tour. She got amazing pictures too. I wonder if it was the same gizmo.

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    1. There are great lens kits available for iPhones, I've considered buying them but figured I don't need more "stuff"...this one wouldn't be great for general photography as you have to be sort of pressed down on the subject to get a good image.

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  9. Very cool camera gadget - a perfect and useful gift – they know you well! It was nice to see these tiny blooms up close.

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