NEWS

June 2008
The greenhouse has been up and running since March, with a coating of white sunscreen on it since early April to protect the orchids from the sun. As most orchids grow in dappled shade in the understory of the tropical forests, very few can tolerate prolonged direct sunlight. For some even this shade isn't enough, one has to find especially shady areas within the greenhouse. But most like the medium levels of bright ambient light, and they certainly like the humidity found in our greenhouse, thanks to the in-floor water tanks (see photos of them being installed back in February and March, then concreted into the floor by the middle of March). We maintain about 90% humidity in the two sections - one warm and one cool.

Alistair Brown, the local plumber here on Gigha, is seen in two of the photos - much of the credit for the greenhouse floor and sub-floor work, as well as the concrete rendering was down to his terrific efforts this past winter. Emma is seen standing in the newly completed interior in late March. And one interior shot shows a portion of the nearly 600 orchids which are now to be found in the greenhouse. It is a wonderful and magical space, a sort of cave of wonders.

January 2008
The new greenhouse is now erected, but the floor inside isn't yet finished. Now an in-floor water tank is being constructed for each area, to help with humidity levels, and to act as a heat sink to help prevent drastic temperature drops in the event of power going off in the middle of a winter's night. I'm now expecting the greenhouse to be completed by the end of February. Nevertheless a few orchids are hanging from wires in the roof, with fan heaters maintaining the right temperatures. And a golden-orange Potinara may just be seen on one windowsill, near the orange misting bottle.

December 2007
There have been two exciting developments of late for the Living Tree Orchid Essences. First of all was the publication at the end of August 2007 of the new photo-cards of the LTOE. These are the size of standard playing cards, so they fit easily in the hand or in a handbag, and as they were printed by a company that specializes in personalized playing cards, they have a great feel to them - the cards have just the right amount of 'slip' combined with an ideal weight.

All of the photos of the orchids were taken by Don Dennis over the past 9 years. Eventually we'll get around to using these photos in a book about the LTOE, but in the meantime the cards have already proven themselves to be wonderful ambassadors for the orchids and the essences.

Secondly, we are now (finally!) constructing a new greenhouse to be a home for the orchids themselves. As of mid-December the foundation has been dug and poured, while on the evening of the 10th of December the numerous and various parts have been delivered by Hartley Botanic of Oldham in Lancashire. Blockwork is going up, and the team from Hartley Botanic are promising to be here on the 3rd of January to finish putting it up.

The greenhouse will have two sections, one for cool orchids from areas of tropical cloud-forest, like the orchids which produced Lanata and Positive Outcome, Releasing Karmic Patterns, Crown of Consciousness, Mercutio, Sound of Thunder, Core of Being and Just Me. The other section (the larger of the two) will be for the orchids that need somewhat warmer temperatures. (Technically referred to as an "intermediate" temperature range by orchid growers. We don't really grow many of the orchids which require the warmest temperatures.)

The two main types of tropical slipper orchids, the Paphiopedilums and the Phragmipediums, and the chief occupants of the intermediate section. Here is a photo of what the greenhouse will more or less look like when completed. And below it is a photo of the construction site in early December 2007, showing the blockwork going up. As the greenhouse will be next to Achamore House, which is a Grade B Listed Building with rendered stone construction, we are using concrete blocks for the low wall, which will be rendered in keeping with the house. (So you won't see bricks in our greenhouse, unlike the smaller photo here.)

That's all for now, I'll be reporting here on the completion of the greenhouse sometime in early January 2008, with any luck!

Don