Lovely as an Orchid.

A trip to an orchid farm--one of the activities I did last May with my dear tita who is a member of the Philippine Orchid Society.  Perhaps, it was a perfect event to spend my mid summer month-dream this year.  I must admit, I have never been to such farm with really colorful, lovely and precious flowers such as orchids. Hence, the reason why Im so excited to share this with you!

The farm is situated in Malvar, Batangas.  Almost a 2-hour trip from Manila.  Owned by former Justice Secretary Hon. Nani Perez, Malvarosa Orchid Farm has its own laboratory for breeding of new orchids. After coming up with a new breed they would send it abroad for proper identification, study and to verify that indeed a new breed has been produced, it is a long process and would definitely take years hence, the cost is likewise high should there be a client wanting to have a new breed of orchid named after him/her/ another person.

Sec. Perez's farm takes pride in their beautiful cattleya farm that houses popular breed such as Corazon Aquino in brilliant yellow, Cristine Bersola, a large white and really lovely cattleya, the eye-soothing orange President GMA cattleya and others such as Malvarosa Sunrise, Why Not Round About and many others. 
My tita got Malvarosa Sunrise and the Why Not cattleya, really pretty orchids for our small garden here in Bulacan.  

Meanwhile, grapes, dragon fruit, avocado, bananas, other fruits and vegetables are being grown there as well. in fact during our visit, they have just harvested their sweet dragon fruit---the inside is pinkish and the taste, real sweet!  This surprised us because most dragon fruits available in the market are tasteless and the inside color is either yellowish or whitish.

We ended our tour in Malvarosa Farm with a good lunch prepared by cooks of Malvarosa Farm!
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Earlier we visited an ornamental farm in batangas as well---Unigreen is owned by a Japanese businessman who provided job opportunities for the Batanguenos residing nearby the farm.

Ornamentals refer to any plants that that are grown for decorative purposes in a garden.  There are indoor and outdoor types depending on their characteristics. Some ornamental plants need to be watered daily while others can survive even without water in three or more days.  Further, some plants need direct sunlight while others do not.  Hence, if you are planning to purchase ornamental plants, analyze first where you intend to put it.  I bought some plants that I intend to place as decor in our bathroom, while my tita took the ones that can serve as highlights for her garden.

In totality, the trip with the Philippine Orchid Society was so cool and refreshing.  It's like being exposed to a green world where flowers serve not just candies in one's eye, but a good stimuli to start something new---such as a hobby:)

Take care of an orchid and feel good about this new hobby. Visit philippineorchidsociety.com for membership and other inquiries.

The said organization provides annual orchid exhibits and other ornamental plants, promotes environmental-awareness through lectures on how to grow orchids in our home/garden, holds monthly trips in different vegetable/orchid/ornamental plants and farms in the Philippines.