Orchids

Orchids are my favourite flowers, along with Peonies. I once spent about five hours at a special exhibition at Kew Gardens, completely fascinated. Thailand is famous for it's orchids - and they grow in abundance in the most unexpected places. I think this is a species of orchid - that was hanging over the pool in my hotel garden. At night though, they closed, giving off a pungent honey-sweet smell that attracted these large, fat beetles. One morning, as the flowers were opening, one of these black beetles flew out of the flower - as if it had slept there overnight in a kind of soft cocoon.