Philippines and its Pink Pretties!

Hosted by "How Sweet the Sound"
We've reached another Saturday and that means, Pink Saturday! It's a meme dedicated to all things Pink! Thank you lots to Beverly for graciously hosting another one that will prove to be another feast for the eyes!

Today, I'd like to share with you some of the glorious flowers of my native land, the Philippines. Mainly orchids! I grew up seeing them everywhere and yet many still cultivate them like they are gold; can you really blame them? Look at a few and tell me that they are not worth every effort given them.

Cattleya Orchid

This is such a prized orchid for its beauty (and the spots that attract all kinds of polinators), in the Philippines that we even had a notebook brand named after it that college students and professionals use. My own late father only used Cattleya Notebooks for whatever he had to write down and never had a second thought about the price whenever he needed to get one. In my childhood home in Novaliches, Quezon City, a suburb of Metro Manila, we had a stump that my father erected in front of our house then he carefully placed three different cattleya orchid saplings. I remember waiting over a year before it bloomed since it normally grew in dense forests and sheltered humid areas and these saplings were exposed. I thought they've died but one day, I saw what looked like another stem and it grew buds rather quickly. The buds took their sweet time opening, but when they finally did, it was just heaven! I wish I could grow orchids, this variety mainly, but I'm still waiting for my thumbs to be green enough to try (lol)!

Laelia Orchid
This one looks like a cousin to the cattleya variety. Isn't it just gorgeous in pink?

Medinilla magnifica
I never knew this variety grew in the Philippines, but I am honored to know that it does... It is so beautiful in all its pink glory!

Vanda Sanderiana
This has been dubbed the queen of orchids in the Philippines.
Waling-Waling" (Vanda Sanderiana -Family Orchidaceae) This epiphyte grows on branches of tall dipterocarp trees. It is 25-100cm tall with long narrow leaves. The sepals are greenish with purple streaks and irregular spots. Though similar to the petals, the sepals are smaller, rose purple in color and have purple spots on the lower margins near the base. Endemic to the Philippines, in particular to Mindanao Island where it is found in North and South Cotobato, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur. Shown is a wild vanda grown at the Zamboanga del Norte Tissue Culture Laboratory. Vanda Sanderiana is on endangered list.(http://www.dipologcity.com/Orchids.htm)

Philippines is a great tropical getaway; there are so many flowers that many I've seen here being peddled as garden variety grow there as weeds that children play with as pretend food!

TABLESCAPING IDEA: ("Brain loves that nature is a sure bet for inspiration!) If you are an avid gardener, choose one particular flower you love growing, and use it as a centerpiece. To spread the beauty and coordinate your table, take a picture and copy it several times on a much smaller scale. Glue each image onto a small tile and coat it well like in decoupage. On the underside, glue some metal rings and you have instant napkin rings that perfectly go with your centerpiece! Use dishes that compliment your favorite flowers and invite friends over for a nice tea time or a light lunch; you can pass the time talking about your chosen theme and maybe help them get started with a small pot for each to take home. I'll be doing this soon with my petunias- the only flowers I'm good at growing! LOL