Neostylis Lou Sneary 'Bluebird' in bloom

This is the first time I’ve had this plant in bloom. Got this back in January with dried flower spikes. I’m very happy with the two flower spikes although the tips are dried. Not sure what happened with that. And along the way I’ve knocked at least two buds off. Grrr. So clumsy. But I have a tight space to work with and with plants packed into a small growspace it’s bound to happen. The flowers smell great but not as strong as I hoped. I still like it’s parent, the Neofinetia falcata’s fragrance better. The other parent is the Rhynchostylis coelestis. This plant is easy to grow and rewarding. Love it.

Orchid haul from Andy's Orchids

I haven't posted in a while it's been quite busy with the holidays.  There was a 40% off sale at Andy's Orchids.  So of course, I had to purchase more orchids.  I purchased these in November, so sorry the sale is no longer going on.  But it seems to happen every November, so remember to check next year.  I could have paid for 2 day shipping, but if it was delayed for any reason the third day had below freezing temps so I went for overnight shipping.  It was pricey, but I did get 40% off, so I think it was still worth it. 

I know this picture doesn't show any details, but I'll post new ones when I posts updates on the orchids.

Here are the orchids I purchased (from left to right):

holcoglossum flavescens

ascocentrum pumilum

leptotes pohlitinocoi
haraella odorata
gastrochilus somai

Non-orchid purchase (top):
Myrmecodia (Ant Plant)

The plants are all very small, the largest was the gastrochilus which game in bud.  So excited about the buds.  They are miniatures, so they won't get big, but it will be a long while before they become specimen size.  Besides the leptotes, all the other genera are all new to me.  Hopefully they'll grow well for me.

Winter is always difficult though as the air is extremely dry.  Even with a humidifier on, its about 30%.  I wish we had a longer growing season.  It's so much easier to grow outside. Because it's so dry, everything pretty much dries in a day, so I water daily.  Watering is also difficult since I grow inside and I have to water each mount individually and try to get the hardwood floors all wet.  I usually get water everywhere. 

I have thought about transferring the mounts to pots, but it seems like it'd kill most of the roots and I would set the orchid back.  Potted plants will not have to be watered as often, but it takes a while for an orchid to recover after a re-pot so stripping it off a mount seems like it would inflict trauma to an orchid.

The ant plant is also new to me.  The caudex is supposed to grow large and it has all these crevices and tunnels that ants live in.  I'm not sure I want ants living in my plant, but I really like the shape of the fat base.   Like my orchids, this plan also likes humidity.  Hopefully it can tolerate my conditions.

Well that's it for now.  Good luck growing!

MOS orchid show

I attended the MOS orchid show today. It was a beastuful crisp fall day and stepping into the nursery where the show was like stepping back into summer. The nursery that is the venue for the show fills the entrance area with hundreds or orchids for sale. Vanda hang from the ceilings and the display tables are overflowing with brilliant orchids surrounded by twinkling lights.

Oncidium ornithorhynchum
This orchid was first brought to my atttention when watching YouTube. There was an amazing specimen sized plants with sprays of pink flowers flowing like pink clouds. It is also fragrant which is always a plus.  Floriferous and fragrant.. what a great combo. But unfortunately a pseudobulbs fell off! My heart sank when I saw it. Poor little orchid. Hopefully it’s salvagable. I am not sure If this oncidium can bloom on back bulbs. I emailed the vendor about this and I’ll wait and see if I get a response. 

Oncidium twinkle red
I have always wanted one of these. Years and years ago I saw a little white one at Trader Joe’s that I believe is a twinkle. I’ve never seen one there since. I ave seen it at other sales and online but never purchased one. I finally gave in today. The plants look very healthy and looked like it’s about to burst into flower. It has thirteen spikes. Yes you heard it right. Thirteen. I can’t wait 

Dendrobium species aff limpidum 

I just looked up what aff on the tag means.  The term is short for affinity which means the plant is similar to a to a particular species, but that the actual identity is uncertain.  That’s a little annoying. It’d be nice to know exactly what I was getting. There are some old blooms on this plant that look very bite. When it’s large enough to be covered itlll be beautiful. The small cascading canes look amazing flowing off the mount like a waterfall. 

More new orchids from the Lyman Estate greenhouse

The greenhouse has a sale twice a year. There were a lot or orchids for sale. It was hard not to buy too much. But I think I did ok with only three. I don’t have an orchid nursery nearby, so this is basically the only option for a variety or orchids other than phalaeonopsis.


Psychopsis Mendenhall ‘Hildos’
I’ve always wanted one of these. I’m really satisfied with the size of the plant and picked the largest available.  It has 11 leaves so it must be a mature plant and it’s trying to squeeze out of the pot. But the lady at the greenhouse says they like to be kept rootbound so I’ll keep it in for a season and see what it does.  Too bad it doesn’t have a spike. The color of the leaves are beautiful. The top is green with purple patches and the back is purple with green dots. Please spike!

Angrecum Didieri

I got the next two orchids for their fragrance. There is a small nub in a leaf axle which looks like a spike. I don’t think it’s a root as those are grayish and bumpy. This one also has a new growth with seven leaves. 

Neofinetia falcata ‘Shutennou’ 朱天王
This one should have some pink in it. It’s planted in a small basket with sphagnum moss. I also got a pot (sold separately). The basket pops right in so I’ll keep it in there. I don’t see a need to repot. The moss is fresh. The plant is small but there are 5 growths. The roots look new, but unfortunately the tips that are visible look damaged. Don’t know about the ones inside the most.

I had to retrai myself. There was so much more beautiful plants. 

Ebay orchid haul!

I got some plants today in the mail.

trichocentrum lanceanum
This plant should have a nice fragrance and waxy flowers.  It is a species orchid.  When purchasing orchids I'm looking for ones with fragrance. Why not have something that's pretty AND smells good.  The American orchid society site says hey require bright light. So hopefully I can give it enough light to bloom.

Onc. Sharry Baby 'Red Fantasy'
Wils. Aloha Sparks 'Halloween'
Onc. Aka Baby 'Raspberry Chocolate' HCC/AOS
Mttsa. Shelob 'Tolkien' AM/AOS.

I also purchased a group of plants that were sold as a set. They are small plugs and cost about 4$ each before shipping. They are small plants. There are two sharry babies. It'll be interesting to compare fragrances once they bloom. I have a sharry baby sweet fragrance and it is in spike right now.

Passion flower and other blooms

I can't believe summer is coming to an end. I really hate the winter. There are still a lot of flowers around. Here are a few. Enjoy!

The Passion flower has flowered for the first time.  This is the first season it has bloomed. I grew from seed two seasons ago. The blooms are so intricate and wild. They only last a day or two.  During the day, they are fragrant. They smell like some sort of insense.  They are supposed to be hardy to zone 6 but I'm afraid to keep them out for he winter. It's growing in a pot and I had it inside last winter. I'll do the same this winter.

In the picture below you can see the stigma is raised. Not sure why. Maybe it got pollinated? The fruit  should be edible I'll be deadheading the plant to save energy. It's too late in the season for fruit to mature anyway.

New phaleonopsis orchids

I ordered a couple of plants on eBay and revived them Saturday. They are small phaleonopsis orchids. But they are blooming size. The smaller of the two did come with a flower, but it was dried and fell off after a couple of days. Since they should rebloom on the same spike, hopefully another bud and flower will form soon.
I'm very interested in species phals and fragrant orchids. Can't wait for them to bloom.

Phal bellina 'TH'  (Right)
Phal (bellina var. coerulea 'Bessing' x violacea 'USA Blue')  (Left)

Repotted the orchids on September 3rd.

I used decorative orchid pots.  This is the first time using one of those glazed pots with holes on the side. Once it matures and roots grow through, it'll be stuck forever right?  No repotting I guess unless you want to rip all the roots off. Not sure how I feel about that. I guess we'll see.

The other pot is a very small glazed pot. There are no holes on the sides but there is one large drainage hole.

Both orchids were potted with a lot of styrofoam peanuts for drainage along with bark and charcoal. The larger pot also has perlite.