Who Needs a Light Meter When You Have Lan Lan?

Lan Lan always seeks out the maximum footcandles for her afternoon nap. Here, she’s posing with two minis I purchased from eBay. The baby on the right is a Dockrilla rigida (which used to be called Dendrobium rigidum), native to New Guinea to Australia. The one on the left is a Maxillaria schunkeana, found in the rainforests of Espiritu Santo, Brazil. To make it feel more at home, I’ve mounted the Maxillaria and moved it into the terrarium. They have very dark purple flowers that look almost black, but I’ve read that it’s difficult to bloom, so we’ll have to see how it fares in its new micro-climate with its new neighbors. Here’s Alice posing atop of it.