Trip to Kenya - Part 1 Orchids and Warthogs

Mavis relaxing 

I have been very negligent with this blog - my new years resolution is to resurrect it and actually make some posts !

I feel very inspired due to my most recent trip home to Kenya to visit family and since I got back to England I have been extra nice to all my orchids which have sadly been neglected due to a house move just a few weeks ago. It  has been an extremely busy time with moving and then going away for a few weeks so they have been left to their own ends somewhat. (I think my Chiloschista may have expired)

I made a special effort to photograph all the orchids I came across, I did have a few camera malfunctions but I hope this gives an idea of where and how these orchids grow.

Despite my love of orchids I am afraid I have no idea which these Kenyan orchids are. (I have requested Orchids of Kenya by Joyce Stewart for my birthday!)  I did ask for names but no one knew, they are just "orchids"! They grow like weeds and you know how it is with the weeds in your own garden - you don't really pay much attention to them but might keep the ones with the pretty flowers!
In Kenya, orchids are often given when you visit friends or relatives and have a stroll around the garden. Cuttings are given of various plants you admire, and the orchids are just another plant to break a piece off. Its so easy to grow them out there, you just take it home find a tree with a fork or convenient nook and either just place it if it will stay, or tie it on with a bit of old string and forget about it. In a few months they look as though they have always been there - oh the envy!

These photos were taken in Nairobi in the garden of one of my cousins just before Christmas. It is laid to lawn with indigenous trees. She enjoys her garden but is unable to have flowerbeds as such as the suburb she lives in is adjacent to Nairobi National Park. This means there is a Warthog highway which runs through the area as they are very partial to a nice spot of grazing and rooting in a lushly watered garden or two! Mavis until recently has been the resident Warthog, a somewhat matronly and very tame animal that made her residence underneath the guest house. Visitors were not known to have a good nights sleep when competing with the snores emanating from Mavis's burrow beneath the floor boards! 

My cousin resigned herself to the fact that Mavis had every right to stay so had to garden accordingly. Mavis loved to sunbathe on the lawn with the dogs in relative peace until unwelcome suitors came to court her. She was an old girl and pretty much past it, so my cousin would rush to her aid when they came calling. She made it quite clear that in her retirement she had no interest in Hogs, and merely wanted a quiet life lying about or having a roll in the shade. Poor Mavis went off one day and never re-appeared. We still remember Mavis very fondly and the stories about defending her honour are retold and cause much hilarity, she did after all help shape this garden where most things are out of reach, hence the orchids and air plants.

Our holiday was just at the tail end of the short rains in December and daytime temps were just a little over the mid 20's c. Night  temps were in high teens to low 20's c. The humidity was moderate but not uncomfortable. It can get very cold at certain times of the year down to 8 or so degrees c at night.

Two orchids at the edge of the garden in a tree in shade most of the day. The garden has been cleared from the surrounding bush and woodland and grass planted. There is no fence as you can see behind this tree where the edge of the garden is, immediately the thick bush starts.

 

This orchid had been moved recently and was not very happy, I suggested a cooler more shady spot as it was in a very exposed, hot part of the garden.

 The basket and orchid above came from her mother in laws garden, the name tag is nothing to do with the orchid. As far as I could tell the baskets were filled with a mixture of leaf litter and twigs that had broken down to a loose but dry composty consistency.

An air plant flowering.

Below - this air plant had the tiniest green flowers.

 The only orchid in flower (apart from Ansellia africana in a later post)

Edit - I added a blown up image of the flowering orchid above in the hope anyone can help identify it. 

This orchid above had recently (about a year ago) had a bit of an accident. It was covered in flower spikes and my cousin was looking forward to it blooming when one day it vanished. She initially thought someone had seen it about to flower and stolen it as it is right by the gate at the entrance to their driveway. She then noticed it was lying behind the tree in a heap with most of the flower spikes gone. The only explanation she could think of is that the Sykes Monkeys who visit the garden,and had pulled it out of the tree to eat the tender flower spikes then discarded the plant. She placed it back in the tree where it has recovered but not flowered. It is now covered in keiki's.