Hello everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, if you and your loved ones celebrate. After Thanksgiving comes Black Friday, so I’m here to announce that the 2026 Brooklyn Orchids calendar is now available on my Zazzle store.

As always, the calendar features twelve months’ of original orchid photographs that I took this past year. Some of the orchids in the calendar are from my own collection, while others are from the United States Botanic Garden here in Washington DC.

The calendar costs $27.30, but it is currently 30% off when you use promo code ZBLKFRIDAY25 at checkout. This brings the price down to $19.11. The code is valid until 11:59pm PST on Sunday, November 30. So now’s a great time to stock up on calendars for yourself or the other orchid and flower lovers in your life!

I will earn a small commission for every calendar sold, so I would like to thank you in advance for your support of this little blog that I rarely update anymore. 

The post Brooklyn Orchids 2026 Calendar is Here! first appeared on Brooklyn Orchids.

Last Friday, my husband and I attended an evening event at the U.S. Botanic Garden called the “Champagne Orchid Soirée,” hosted by the nonprofit organization Friends of the U.S. Botanic Garden. The USBG is currently hosting an annual orchid exhibit in conjunction with Smithsonian Gardens; the 2025 exhibit’s theme is Masters of Deception. We hadn’t seen the exhibit yet, so this soirée was a great opportunity to do so—and the perfect excuse for a date night.

I learned about the event via Instagram and bought tickets pretty much right away.    If you ever have the chance to visit the USBG in the evening, do it! It’s nice to see the space during the daytime, but it’s also cool to enjoy it after hours.

The event tickets included one drink ticket per person, with additional drinks and snacks available for purchase. We headed for the bar upon arrival and decided we had to try the seasonal cocktails.

I got the Lavender Fields because it came with an orchid garnish (a cute white Epidendrum!). Not only was this purple drink pretty, it was delicious too.

Drinks secured, we began to wander the space. The Smithsonian Gardens had this beautiful display of orchids from their collection set up in the main hall of the conservatory:

There are gorgeous orchids to admire everywhere you turn in the USBG’s main hall. I did not catch the tag on the below orchid, but I believe it’s some type of Vanda. Those blooms are so chunky and waxy!

I had to photograph this bright fuchsia Dendrobium while in line for the bar:

I always love a big, beautiful Lady Slipper orchid:

This year’s exhibit has a number of educational display cases scattered throughout the main hall of the conservatory. The below case shows off orchids (with TEENY TINY blooms) that use sexual deception in order to attract specific pollinators.

Of course, we had to go check out the orchid room to see what was blooming. We were greeted by this fragrant Acineta superba when we entered the room:

I love this unique, almost furry Dendrobium polysema:

This beautiful white Vanda barnesii captured my attention:

As did the small, nearly-neon pink blooms of this Vanda ampullacea:

I’m still drooling over this velvety purple orchid. I didn’t see the tag on this plant, but I believe it’s some type of Brassia?

Another drool-worthy orchid that is probably Brassia-related:

Last but not least, my favorite orchid: a Zygopetalum (specifically, this one is tagged Debbie De Mello ‘Honolulu Baby’). I will never not love these purple and brown beauties.

We had a really nice time wandering the conservatory and checking out the orchids. To be honest, the orchid exhibit seems a little muted this year; there isn’t much to it outside of the main hall and the orchid room. If I remember correctly, past years’ exhibits at the USBG had more orchids scattered throughout other areas of the conservatory. I do need to go back and visit during the daytime, though, and I know that they switch out some of the orchids throughout the exhibit’s duration.

This year’s orchid exhibit is on display through April 27, 2025, so it’s not too late to visit! And regular daytime admission to the USBG is always free. 

The post Champagne Orchid Soirée at USBG first appeared on Brooklyn Orchids.

Happy Black Friday! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I’m here to let you know that my Brooklyn Orchids 2025 Calendar is now available to purchase in my Zazzle store.

As always, the calendar includes twelve months’ worth of orchid photographs that I took. All of the photos in my 2025 calendar were taken either at the 2024 Smithsonian Orchid Exhibit or during our visit to the greenhouses at Hillwood Estate earlier this year.

The calendars are $27.30 apiece full price, but there’s a 40% off Black Friday special when you use promo code ZBLKFRIDAY24 at checkout. So the calendars are $16.38 apiece today (November 29). I imagine Zazzle will have more promo codes through the weekend and next week for Cyber Monday as well. So it’s a great time to order a gift for yourself or the orchid lover in your life.

Thank you in advance for your support!

Disclosure: I earn a percentage of each sale from my Zazzle store.

The post Now Available: Brooklyn Orchids 2025 Calendar first appeared on Brooklyn Orchids.