Jardinerong Sunog (the Burnt Gardener)

For about two months now, not a week passes without some form of precipitation falling down on us. Even very sunny days are broken into episodes of drizzles which can escalate into a full-blown shower before the sun wins again, to be overwhelmed once more by rain. Sometimes both play at the same time on the stage, a precursor to rainbows that add color to an otherwise gray, humorless sky. But, I do not mind. Most of my plants are rainforest species, and I do not concern myself too much about the welfare of most of my succulents during these rainy days, except for a very few species that may need shelter once the rains fall practically non-stop for about 5 days or so. I do not maintain as many orchids as I used to, but what I do have, I try quite hard to take care as much as I can. And because there are species orchids that sulk when their roots are on the dry side and thus require more watering from my part, the almost constant rains make maintenance easier while making the plants ha...

A quite widespread  Dendrobium in the Philippines is D. serratilabium , a species found on Luzon and Mindanao, but with very localized populations in the provinces of Aurora, Quezon, Rizal, Laguna, Leyte, Bukidnon and Misamis. The species was described from plants collected in Rizal by Augustus Loher in September 1909, but was described only in 1937, by Louis O. Williams. The pseudobulbous, jointed stems are pendulous and dangle to around a meter in length, with glossy, dark green leaves; older branches are leafless. The inflorescences arise from near the stem tips and usually 6.5 cm long, bearing up to 10 flowers. These blooms are 3.2 cm wide but do not open widely. In common with related species, the mentum is long and spur-like, but the most distinctive feature, of course, is the labellum with toothy margins. The faintly fragrant flowers of D. serratilabium are variably colored, but usually in a ground color of yellow or greenish, with or without dark brown tesselat...

Kohleria hybrid What does forest deforestation have to do with losing plants in my collection? Over the years I have managed to expand the plant collection in waves- many were obtained either via trades or given as gifts, or simply bought. This was a time when I was as rabid a collector as anyone could possibly be, a time when I always had my eyes set on a plant or two and will seek out anyone who happened to have that plant I want. Now, as many of you probably already know, I have made it a habit of trekking into forests to observe plants in their natural habitats and fortunately, there is one within my area, although much of the old growth has already been harvested way even before I was born. But on my later visits, I was appalled by the sudden influx of charcoal producers- trees were being cut down and land being razed to the ground to make way for coal production. And this was particularly troubling because this forest is one of the two sources of water for our town. It wa...