Greetings dear friends and photography lovers

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Today I come to show you another of the orchids I've had in my little garden, it's a Stanhopea Oculata. Commonly, it is better known as Torito Orchid, or Vaquita, a name that is due to its peculiar appearance, because its inflorescences have a pair of horns, which resemble those of cows or bulls. In addition, as you can see, in the images, the flowers are exotic and very beautiful despite having a strange appearance. A detail, which always caught my attention, were its petals, since they are hard to the touch, they resemble a kind of fleshy shells. Anyway, I recognize that it is the strangest species I've had in my garden.

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I bought it in a plant nursery, during a trip I made to the beautiful town of Caripe, in the Monagas state. I really do not remember, if the person who sold it to me told me the name of the plant, what does come to my mind, is that the plant already had the inflorescence rod formed, but the flowers still did not open. The rod was very peculiar and strange, and that was precisely what motivated me to buy the plant. In the first instance, unlike other orchid plants that until that moment I knew, in this one, the floral rod came out below the basket where it was planted, it was like hanging from the roots. Secondly, the buds resembled yellow chili peppers, which is why I baptized her with the name of the Ají Orchid.

Once we return to our house, we immediately locate it in a place in the garden, with a great fear that it will not prosper properly. My fear was due to the fact that it came from a cold mountain climate and in the place where I live, the weather is very hot and sunny, since I live in a coastal area. However, the flowers finished developing and finally opened, with the pleasant surprise, of having a sweet, delicious and intense fragrance, which spectacularly aromatized my garden. The plant apparently adapted to the weather, and flourished two or three more times, which, I was very happy, because I had managed to heat it. Unfortunately, it only lasted about 3 years, because there was a strong period of drought, in which I lost many plants. Due to the lack of water, I had a hard time watering them and keeping them hydrated, which I end up drying. However, today, I still feel proud of what I achieved with that orchid plant and I hope one day I can have it again in my garden.

Content and photographs of my intellectual property

Technical information

Camera	Pentax * istDL
Lens	Pentax 18-55
Lighting	Natural Light
Location	Barcelona, Anzoátegui State, Venezuela