Orchids and Bromeliads

The orchidaceae family has over 25,000 species and maybe 100,000 hybrids. So obviously, I won't be making much of a dent in this category. I will try to discuss ones that I have a photo of. What I might do, if you would be willing to help, is I might include a photo gallery of any I haven't yet identified and see if any of you can tell me what you think they are. This will be a work in progress because I have a lot of room to expand! Orchids grow naturally in the tropics where they will thrive outdoors. But they can be grown in greenhouses as well.

There are over 2,000 species of bromeliad. Most thrive in the Southern US, Central and South America, and in the West Indies. They are also easy to cultivate if you have a greenhouse. If they have the right growing environment bromeliads require very little maintenance.

Many of both orchids and bromeliads are classified as epiphytes. An epiphyte is a plant growing on another plant but which does not obtain it's food from the other plant.

Photo credit by Marsha Camblin Copyrighted - this photo is one I do not know the name of at the moment. For now please send me a message if you can identify this orchid. Thanks - I will research it and see if I can figure it out as well.