This makes a very porous mixture, a necessity when all plants must be treated fairly uniformly due to restrictions on time and personnel. It may mean watering twice a day on the hottest summer day, but we think you'll agree as you move through the greenhouses that this mixture works very well. Here in Greenhouse A, representatives of two exotic plant groups are housed, the bromeliads and the orchids. Bromeliads, for the most part, grow in the tropics, although our own familiar Spanish moss belongs to this family. The orchids compose the largest family of flowering plants and their diversity is well represented in the display here.
Orchids are insect-pollinated and each flower is designed to attract a particular insect.
The most frequently recognized orchids are the catteleyas and the moth orchids. You will notice that our greenhouses are covered with white-wash. The purpose of this shading is to decrease the amount of sunlight and reduce temperatures , particularly in the summer. In doing this, we are attempting to simulate the tropical forest conditions in which many of the tropical plants grow. The genera represented have many members which are quite familiar.