I stayed home this weekend, hanging out with the new birds, playing music for them on my new piano – more about that in a later post – checking out what’s going on in my backyard, making soup and bread… And trying to finish the pictures from Costa Rica.

Green Hermit – a token hummingbird in an orchid post

Except that going through them there is so much more than just birds. There is landscape, butterflies, other animals, orchids and other plants and flowers that defy description.

All the orchid pictures on this page were taken on a field trip we took to Lankester Botanical Gardens on November 14th.

Waterfall at Lankester Gardens

I have seen orchids in other places, but nothing compares to the feeling of being surrounded by them everywhere!

There are thousands of varieties and these pictures are by no means meant to be representative. I just took pictures of the cooperative plants that caught my eye.

I confess ignorance about plants in general and orchids in particular, but it is easy to see why people become enamored and enslaved by them.

I did buy a book on Costa Rican plants but I am almost afraid to open it. I suspect it will help me identify some of the more common plants and trees in some photographs but it couldn’t possibly catalogue very many orchid species. The sheer variety is mind-numbing.

The gardens have a nursery going for new orchids, some growing out of wood blocks, like the one below.

It seemed only fitting to close with a Green Hermit enjoying flowers.