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. 

April showers bring may flowers

There's been so much rain lately I don't remember the last sunny day. The sun finally came out today and it was glorious, even though it also came with watery itchy eyes. Yesterday there was an herb sale, but I didn't get any herbs. I came home with two orchids and an ice plant. Part of the sale was outdoors and it started raining just as we started browsing around. Here are the plants I got.

Oncidium sharry baby 'sweet fragrance'

This one is so famous for the chocolate fragrance I just had to get one although I don't think it smells too much like chocolate.  To me it smell like some sort of sweet cookie. The fragrance hasn't been too strong. I'm not sure if it's because some of the blooms are past it's prime. From researching online sweet frangrance should have a stronger fragrance than the other most popular clones.  It is said that the fragrance will fill an entire room.  This is also a very large plant. From the base of the bulb to the tip of the spike it's 37 inches. Hopefully it will grow larger under my care and I'll get multiple spikes.

Dendrobium attoviolacea Pygmy x 'H & R'

This one had so many flowers and three spikes on a petite plant. They stay small which is great for my space situation. I'm running out of room and there are still so many more plants I want.  The spots stripes and the purple edge drew me to this plant. Even the back of the flower is decorated with the spots. I believe this doesn't require a winters rest like the nobiles. I found a forum post where someone mentioned this smells like chocolate, but I don't detect any fragrance at all. Two of the canes are new but they came rebloom on old canes which means a potential for more flowers. 

Ice plant 'fire spinner'

I have some ice plants and they grow so well with little care. The multicolored flowers in this one looks like a sunset. I also decided to pick this one as the plant seems very vigorous and healthy. The pot is having trouble containing it.