A Norton Rose Group magazine Issue 3 Re: WoRk dementia the ...

GrowinG orChids
in CArACAs
All flowers in Mother Nature are beautiful but absolutely none can hold a
candle to the beauty of orchids. Their colours, shapes, complexity and
incredible diversity are unrivalled in the plant world.
Orchids grow throughout the equatorial tropics. They hug the trees – but are
not parasites: they obtain no food from these trees to which they seem so
deeply attached.
There is an abundance of orchids in Venezuela, the most common being
cattleyas, vandas, phalaenopsis and dendrobium. One became the national
symbol of Venezuela: the cattleya labiada. Not so long ago, its image was
stamped on the 500 Bolivar bill and it was common to answer the question
“How much does it cost?” with the reply “One orchid”.
I love all orchids – and there are more than 30,000 species and at least
200,000 hybrids – but my favourite is the phalaenopsis. It is a beautifully
distinguished flower and, since it blooms vertically and since I live not in a
house but in an apartment, in my opinion it is a perfect species for indoor
cultivation. The long sprays of colourful flowers stay fresh for months. I have
seen the phalaenopsis in marbled hotel lobbies and in photographs of the
homes of the rich and the famous. Placed in a vase, it draws attention and
lights up any room with its extraordinary colour and shape.
I grow orchids with a passion, and with tender loving care, as they deserve.
care of your orchid – for orchid lovers
Buy the most mature plant you can afford (young plants are much more
difficult to please) and, if possible, buy it in bloom (so you know what you’re
paying for).
Do not plant your orchid in soil or earth; remember, it is an epiphyte [a plant
which grows on another plant – Ed.].
Orchids grow best in soil-less mixtures or attached to pieces of bark or cork,
chopped tree, fern fibre, volcanic stone, charcoal, a little peat, fir bark or
combinations of these.
Watering once a week is enough.
Avoid spraying water directly on the flowers.
Orchids enjoy good air circulation and plenty of indirect light. They are
happiest in an east or south-east window where the light is not too intense.
They like to stay in one place.
for more help
www.orquideasdevenezuela.com
www.plantiolaorquidea.com
www.wikihow.com/Care-for-Orchids
www.repotme.com/orchid-care
www.nativeorchids.co.uk
Virginia Leyva has been growing orchids for
six years. she is the assistant to the managing
partner of Norton Rose group’s Caracas office
in Venezuela.
:The back garden
PeriLs of A new forest
VeGetAbLe GArdener
If you live in the country you can
expect unwanted visitors in the
garden. Slugs, snails and birds all
wreak havoc on the vegetables, and
deer can strip a rose bed in a night.
There are few things as depressing as
opening the curtains on a beautiful
morning, only to be greeted by four
very contented bucks munching their
way through your prized Gertrude
Jekyll blooms. But short of installing
six-foot high wire fencing around the
garden – which is not a good look –
you have to learn to live with it.
Recently, however, we have suffered
unexpected visitors. I am all for
walking – it is one of my greatest
pleasures – but groups of hikers
striding through my garden in their
multicoloured cagoules do not form
part of my rural dream. Especially
when they climb over our fence to
get into the paddocks and then wave
their maps and demand to know why
they are not where they should be.
We intercepted one walking party as
they held a conference amongst our
lupins. It soon became apparent that
our garden was in the wrong place
– and it was clearly our fault. We
escorted them back to the road, but
they were still complaining when we
shut the gate on them.
Maybe it is time for the deer fencing
after all.
real estate partner Lindsay Morgan has five
acres of land at her home in the new forest and a
husband and two sons (one a teenager and one
a fledgling journalist). She is head of european
real estate with norton rose Group and is based
in London.
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