Sunday, February 26, 2017

Dendrobium "Country Girl" blooming

There are a total of nine buds and they started opening on Feb 24. There are a few flowers opened and there are still a few more to go. This is the same plant featured in my very first post on this blog back in September 2016. It actually rebloomed with one single flower a few weeks back on an old cane that already flowered, but I had an accident and knocked that one off.  Clumsy me.

I wonder what the normal blooming season is for this plant.  Since the nursery is located in Hawaii in optimal growing conditions, switching climates probably affected the timing of the blooms. I also really didn't give it a winter rest as your supposed to with dendrobium nobiles. The plant had flowers and new growths on it that were only a few inches tall, so since it was still actively growing, I didn't restrict water.  These new growths are still a lot smaller that the older canes. I'm hoping I can bring it out in the summer for natural sun, rain and wind. And by winter, it'll be over a year under my care so it should be fully acclimated and I should be able to give it a proper winters rest.

I've also notice that flowers I've bloomed are more purple and there is less orange in the throat. I'll see if the color changes as the flowers age, or if it is just because of a difference in the environment. I have some other plants that when they rebloomed had a different appearance from the time I purchased them.





Update on March 13
The flowers have lightened and there are darker yellow tones.  The flowers are still going strong.  I hope they'll last a long time.  





Sunday, February 12, 2017

Another big lip phaleonopsis

I bought another phal at Trader Joe's yesterday. They had several big lip ones including this unique dark purple one which looked like it was tiedyed. But it has a shorter smaller flower spike so I went with the tall one.  It is missing a couple of buds but it looks like there are a lot more buds to come.  Seems like the big lips are becoming more available. But I have only seen them at Trader Joe's for sale.

Like the majority of plants around here there is no ID. But after googling photos, it looks like Phalaenopsis Yu Pin Fireworks (Sogo Dove x World Class). Based on the name it looks like the same orchid breeders as the last one I purchased. They actually look the same where one is subtle and this one has dark intense lines. They also both have branching spikes.