Bloom Event - Phalaenopsis Kuntrarti rarashati

What a mouthful ! I actually picked up this Phalaenopsis from a local garden centre (back before they stopped stocking anything interesting). Took some digging to find a name and I don't usually bother with Phalaenopsis as there are so many unnamed hybrids out there that there is almost no chance of finding a correct match. This one is quite distinctive, however.

I know. You've seen the picture and still think its not very interesting. Brown flowers.....great. This is actually a primary hybrid between Phalaenopsis equestris and P. venosa. The brown comes from P. venosa. Flowers are smallish, but are freely produced and this plant seems rarely out of bloom, often with two branched spikes blooming at a time. It is actually more attractive than the photo suggests, with the pink being rather understated and the brown actually being a richer more orange shade. What I really like about this hybrid, however, is the scent. Most Phalaenopsis hybrids found in shops and garden centres are not scented, the emphasis being very much on big flowers. I have a natural liking for fragrant flowers, and this one is lovely. I can only describe the smell as 'nutmeg'. A fully open spike of flowers on a warm day will fill a room with scent. I'm guessing the scent comes from P. venosa, as P. equestris is not scented to my knowledge.

A very vigorous plant which I'm going to have to repot soon as it is getting rather large and is still in its original pot from two or three years ago. It always carries around ten leaves which is a lot for most Phalaenopsis, and the leaves are slightly more narrow than most hybrids. So far, it has bloomed from every leaf axil without fail and the flowers are very long lasting.

The Phalaenopsis season has started in earnest now, so expect more posts on these ubiquitous but nevertheless lovely genus of Orchids.

Bloom Events - A Few Species Orchids

I took these photos a few days ago of stuff that has put in an appearance in time for Christmas, but haven't had time to get them uploaded what with one thing and another. 

The first pretty picture shows Dendrochilum javieri. This is rather unlike my other Dendrochilum species. The flowers always look pretty similar as anyone who read my Dendrochilum magnum post will know, but the other species of Dendrochilum I grow look rather like small Aspidistra plants. This one has narrow, succulent leaves and pseudobulbs are either absent or greatly reduced. In fact, this plant could almost be mistaken for Brassavola nodosa until it blooms. There will be a post on Brassavola nodosa in the new year, as it is in spike. Dendrochilum javieri lives in the warm growroom under the lights. I can't really take any credit for blooming it, as I bought it in September, in spike, from Burnham Nurseries. It has really taken its time getting into bloom, as the flowers are still not all open yet. I haven't noticed a scent on this yet, the other species of Dendrochilum I grow are quite strong.

Next up is Dendrobium bracteosum. This is an odd little species that produces clusters of small flowers on its oldest canes. It seems to bloom at random for me, but it may be that there is some trigger that I'm not aware of. The plant is resting at the moment, though I don't keep it particularly dry.  Because of its habit of blooming on old canes and not new ones, it takes some time for this species to put on a decent show of flowers, since unless the plant is quite old, all the flowers will be on the shortest canes, the taller, newer canes not usually blooming for a year or two. My plant is not old (maybe three years) but is now larger than most specimens seen  for sale. I was expecting pink flowers as is typical for the species, but I seem to have picked up a white form. Moral of the story? Buy plants in bloom to make sure you are getting what you think you are. Not that I'm desperately fussy about flower colour.

Thirdly, we have Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi var. flava. Once again, I have ended up with a different colourform of the species. If anyone out there has any of the other colourforms and wants to donate one to me, do get in contact ! For the benefit of those who think that Phalaenopsis are all big and blousy and look the same. I really like this species. I have had it for several years (originally there were four or five plants, but I've sold the rest). This particular flower spike has been on the plant for quite a long time, and produces flushes of blooms intermittently. There are usually two flowers open at a time, and they last a few weeks, new buds opening as old blooms fall. Flower spikes that are still green should not be removed as they can continue to bloom for years. Notice in the background of the photo that the spike is flattened in shape. The leaves on this species are longer and narrower than the hybrids, but it really is just as easy a grower as the hybrids. My plant has recently put out another flower spike (as have the vast majority of the Phalaenopsis hybrids). It also seems to have the happy trait of producing baby plants (keikis) on its flower spikes that can be potted up once roots have formed.

Hippeastrum Bloom Event - X Hippeastrelia

This is a first blooming for me, and I have to say I'm impressed (I know, I always say that, I guess I'm easily pleased). Look at it, though....

X Hippeastrelia is a hybrid between a Hippeastrum (nobody knows which one it was) and a small, less well known bulb called Sprekelia formosissima or Jacobean lily. This lovely hybrid is unusual in that it manages to carry the best traits of both its parents, without any of the negatives. The colour is wonderful and deep with a velvety texture to the flowers, and they are longer lasting than Sprekelia. Two flowers to a stem, rather than one from Sprekelia, a good size compared to the size of the bulb. Here's a gratuitous side view of the bloom.

The blooms are absolutely dripping with nectar, have to be careful where I put it.

Seems an easy grower, the hardest part of its culture is finding them in the first place, my plant came from eBay. It is reputed to multiply fast (much like the Klister varieties which will be discussed in a full length post I'm working on) but this has only produced one offset so far. It is potted in my standard houseplant potting mix and grown temporarily under lights. Mostly I try to grow Hippeastrum under natural light, but when the plants put up flower scapes during winter they tend to stretch to the light, no matter how much I turn them, and get unnecessarily tall.

I have had this plant of over a year, so I'm not sure what the bloom trigger here is but it didn't flower immediately on planting like a lot of Hippeastrum do. I did read about Sprekelia that it takes time for it to settle down after disturbance, so maybe this trait has been passed along to the hybrid.

In other news,  a package of new bulbs from Royal Colors arrived today that I'd ordered back in November. I ordered six varieties (Hercules, Daphne, Picotee, Bogota, Gervase and Double Delight), two of which (Hercules and Double delight) are jumbo sized bulbs.  Pictured below is Hercules, with my mostly obscured hand for scale.

Once again, I'm impressed with the quality of the bulbs, and can't wait to get them into bloom, though it will be in the new year, as I have the last lot coming up to bloom at the moment.

No ID Cattleya Revisited - Multicoloured flowers !

Well. How interesting. A few days ago, I published a post concerning these Cattleyas and their flower colour. I very helpfully include a photo below to refresh our memories.

The pink was quite strong on a plant that last year had white flowers. Interestingly, another bud opened today off the same plant but a different flower spike. The following photo shows the result....

Barely a trace of pink at all. During my original post I mentioned that the only significant difference I could think of between last year and this is light levels. When an orchid comes into bloom in the growroom, I move it into my living room so I can enjoy the blooms. This particular plant had two flower spikes, only one of which was open when I moved it. The second spike finished its development under lower light levels, and the buds have opened white. I think this pretty much proves my point. I do expect these new flowers to flush pink, but I doubt they'll be as strongly coloured as the others.  Ooh, I do love a mystery !

Hippeastrum Bloom Event - Limona

I don't usually go for the green or yellow Hippeastrum as I find the colours quite wishy-washy, but I have to admit they are growing on me. I particularly like the Pinkish flush this one has. One of the smaller flowered hybrids, it is nicely proportioned as the stem is not too tall. Bought around Christmas 2014, this one has come back into bloom with one scape bearing four blooms, which are opening sequentially.

Bloom Event - Dendrochilum magnum first blooming

I Love Dendrochilum orchids. So very.....botanical...... looking. But without all the fussiness one might associate with botanical specimens.

Dendrochilum magnum really is the giant of the genus, growing to maybe eighteen inches tall or more, looking rather like an Aspidistra when not in bloom. My plants are still young, really, but have reached flowering size this year, after me growing them on for 3 years. They are from a European nursery (purchased as plug plants for very little money, such a bargain), and so are a slightly different form to a lot of the plants of this species in cultivation in the UK. Most growers I talk grow a form with flowers turning an orange yellow colour within a few days of opening. My form opened apple green and has only turned a little lighter.

With the best will in the world, the flowers aren't large, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in numbers and elegance. The spike is upright or arching with the flowering portion dangling down in a chain. This species is also quite strongly scented, and a plant in full bloom will fill a room with a spicy fragrance, especially under warm and humid conditions.

My plants are still young, but are clumping up well, with each plant producing two new growths (at least), and most have produced two inflorescences as a result.

As can be seen, the new growths are surrounded by bracts, making them very attractive even when not in flower (as I mentioned before, they remind me of Aspidistra). While very young, these bracts are closed off at the top, and the newly developing leaf breaks through, closely followed by the inflorescence. Flowers are produced while the new growth is still developing. This species (indeed most Dendrochilum) are rather difficult to get a decent photo of, but below I have tried to illustrate the whole flower spike.

The pseudobulbs are conical to egg shaped and clustered together so older plants produce an attractive clump with many new growths emerging at the same time, resulting in an impressive show of flowers. This species seems a very willing grower, and it looks like my plants will clump up nicely. I grow them warm with constant air movement and really quite a bit of water, especially when in growth. A bit less water when plants are resting, but they don't seem overly fussy. Indeed a bit of extra water while plants aren't growing seems to encourage older pseudobulbs to retain their leaf. Quite happy in medium bark chips, they are reputed to grow better slightly underpotted but I was forced to repot this year as they would have climbed over the edge of the pot if I hadn't!

There is, apparently, some confusion with this species in cultivation, and some plants that are labelled D. magnum are in fact D. latifolium. From what I read, D. magnum is altogether a larger plant, and my plants would seem to fit with that. I encourage my readers to inform me if I do make a mistake.

As a first blooming of this species for me, I am very impressed indeed. Truly one of the orchid highlights of the year. I have four or five plants, so there will be some available for sale/exchange in the future.

Bloom Event Update - Brassocattleya binosa

When I first started this blog, my first post was about Brassocattleya binosa. I have several plants which are just approaching flowering size. I had talked about the disappointing markings on the petals of the flower that was open a few weeks ago. Well I'm pleased to say that another plant has opened a flower which has much better form. Maybe these plants are seedlings and are quite variable, but as you can see in the photo below, this one is much improved.

Note the lack of markings on the petals (aside from the lip, of course). I shall mark this plant out as having good form. I know it isn't perfect, but it is promising for a first blooming. There is a third plant in bud, but the bloom looks like it will be misshapen, we shall see.

Bloom Event - Cattleya No ID

I got these plants last Christmas to sell. There were five plants and I sold one. I am very glad now that I didn't sell them all. This isn't because there's anything wrong with the plants; there isn't. When I got them, the flowers were white. Yes, definitely white. Imagine my surprise then, when this flower opened.

The sharper eyed among my readers might notice that this flower definitely isn't white. The colour came after the flower had opened, but it still wasn't white even then. It is a very beautiful flower, and it has a wonderful scent. The view of my hand must also give some idea of scale, too. Meanwhile, another plant from the same batch has opened some flowers now.

It is, if possible, even pinker ! Again with a good scent and good size. I would love to know how the plants were grown at the nursery. I can only conclude that they are forced in some way. Also, I do wonder if the colour is intensified under brighter light. I have noticed that a lot of my Cattleyas have more intense colour since I have been growing under lights. Not sure why this is, but one theory is that I have to shade even Cattleyas from full sun, whereas they don't have to be shaded from the lights so maybe they are getting more light. Adding strength to this theory is the fact that plants grown under natural lights in this country have to put up with quite a lot of rather dull weather. This is England, after all. Under lights the photoperiod is the same every day, same intensity. Maybe on balance they get more light this way.

I doubt that the person who bought the plant last Christmas will remember who I am, or be reading this, but I apologise to them nonetheless. Sometimes I make a mistake. So sorry about that. Ahem. Moving on...

These plants have made good growth this year, mostly with more than one new growth per plant. The darker of the two plants pictured has another flower spike on the way. Another plant from the batch has a spike coming, too. I'll be interested to see how it comes out, and I'll link back to this post when the flowers open.

I will have to do something with all of the plants once blooming has ended as they are all over the edges of their pots now, and I think they need new growing medium. That'll be a job and a half. I expect I'll end up with far more than four plants, too.

New Plant / Bloom Event - Catasetum tenebrosum

I can't really claim any credit for blooming this; it was in spike when I got it from Chantelle Orchids back in mid November. I feel I should apologise for the exceptionally poor photography here, but have you tried photographing a nearly black flower under bright grow lights with a phone camera? Believe me, it's not easy!

I have always has a fascination with Catasetums, but I can't say my attempts at growing them have been particularly successful. They are a bit thin on the ground here in the UK, and I have seen some very sorry looking albeit choice hybrids selling on eBay for truly extortionate amounts of money. I paid more for this than I'm generally comfortable spending on any orchid, but not so much that i'd be too distraught if it died on me. From what I've read (and I do read a lot), Catasetums tenebrosum is meant to be one of the more forgiving members of the genus. When I got this plant it was potted in tightly packed sphagnum moss in a flimsy plastic pot as is usual with most of Chantelle's plants. Naturally, that had to go. I was rather disappointed to discover that it had rather few healthy roots, though there were a few on last years pseudobulbs. The two new growths (I always go for a plant with more than one lead, if I can) had made very few roots, which doesn't tally with my previous experience with Catasetums at all. Usually the new growth is followed by an explosion of new roots while it is still quite young.

Catasetums originate in South and Central America and require warm to hot conditions while in active growth. They also require a definite rest period with no water while they are resting, and not to be watered until new roots are well developed. I'll probably post more on the subject as the plant settles in and actually does something.

Bloom event - Sophrolaeliocattleya little hazel

I got this from Chantelle Orchids a couple of years ago and I really is a true miniature, only standing around three inches high. I assume that gorgeous deep red colour comes from its Sophronitis parent.

 I should point out now that I'm almost entirely sure that under the most recent nomenclature, this hybrid is probably just a Cattleya, rather than Sophrolaeliocattleya as I've titled it. Yes, that's right, the taxonomists have been at it again. I understand the need for accurate naming, but the constant name changes really do get confusing. I quite liked the old name as even though it was much longer, it did give some hint as to the parentage. I always feel with big genera (Dendrobium is a case in point) that they are so diverse in their species' habitats, habits and even morphology that the name really tells us almost nothing. Under the old system, if we see that Sophronitis is present in a hybrid's parentage, we immediately expect diminutive plants, often with strongly coloured flowers, large for the size of the plant. We might also expect plants to be more tolerant of slightly cooler temperatures.

Whatever it is called, this plant is a good strong grower, if rather slow. I would have preferred more than just the one flower, but then beggars can't be choosers, can they?

New Orchid - Coelogyne neroli cannon

Bought this off eBay. It arrived this morning via Hermes, who I think must have played tennis with it. All medium out of the pot, poor thing. I'll admit it could have been a tad better wrapped, but still. I nearly always repot new orchids anyway so no harm done.
Neroli Cannon is a hybrid between C. speciosa and C. fragrans so I'm quite excited to see it bloom. Flowers should be large, nodding and produced from new growth.
I imagine the speciosa parent will make this hybrid very hard wearing (just like all the other speciosa hybrids seem to be). Speciosa always seems to be dominant and from the look of this plant, that theme continues.
I can see a new growth emerging so fingers crossed I can get it into bloom within a few months.

Bloom Event - Paphiopedilum leeanum

As I keep saying, I'm not a big grower of slipper orchids. That is why I seem to post so many one here. There are plenty more in spike ! Anyway, say hello to Paphiopedilum leeanum. This is a primary hybrid between P. spicerianum and P. insigne. I don't know enough about either of these to comment on what they have passed to the hybrid. What I can say is that it seems an easy if slow grower, and seems to bloom at around this time of year (Time of writing: December 2015). There are actually two of these in flower. I have several plants; a hangover from the days when I used to sell a few plants. All seem healthy and are growing nicely. It is always an emotional rollercoaster watching new plants settling into my conditions. These seemed healthy on receipt though, and I haven't lost any. There was an attack of red spider mite during the summer but they seem to have shook it off very well although the leaf damage never heals. They grow in my warm growroom (I have read that plain leafed Paphs such as these need cooler conditions, but they don't seem to care).

Bloom event - Prosthechea cochleata x prismatocarpum

I always like random hybrids. I originally got this plant from Ray Creek orchids (and it wasn't cheap, let me tell you!), I can't resist Prosthechea species and hybrids. As P. cochleata is an easy grower and bloomer, I figured 'how hard can the hybrid be, right?' Wrong. It has take me three years to get this plant back to what I consider comparative health and vigour. While I can't say its been on death's door, it has been, for want of a better word, sulking. On receipt, I straight away removed the coconut chip based potting medium that Ray Creek is so fond of and replaced it with my trusty Melcourt bark chips. The plant then produced a new growth, smaller, and bloomed from it. Photos exist, somewhere, probably. The flowers didn't look quite right, but I thought I'd persevere. After more sulking and general teenager like behaviour, the plant then had a truly terrible attack of scale insect. The little buggers are notoriously hard to spot and they do like to hide, so it took a further year of intermittent spraying, swearing and, you guessed it, sulking before finally this year a new growth came up clean, slightly bigger than last year's effort and which produced a healthy flower spike. You see the result in the photo. Definitely worth the wait. Both parents can be seen in here, which I like. All too often one parent dominates over the other, as is often the case with hybrids involving Coelogyne speciosa. The flowers are resupinate, from the prismatocaroa parent, and the purple lip and spotting is from there too. Otherwise, the general flower shape reminds me of a sort of tidier version of P. cochleata. The flower spikes seem very long lived, staying green long (I'm talking months or years) after the flowers have dropped. I'm hoping that this is a precursor to repeat or sequential blooming, a trait displayed by Prosthechea cochleata. Haven't detected a scent yet, but its early days and at least one of its parents is not scented. All in all I think is is a promising plant that doesn't seem to hate me as much now as it once did.

Houseplant potting mixes - Part two

In case I hadn't waffled on enough in the last article about potting mixes, here's the other half!

Houseplants

Yes, I have lumped pretty much all houseplants in together as I treat them all the same whether they are epiphytic or terrestrial. I never use ‘houseplant compost’ straight out of the bag (in fact I don’t use it at all anymore, and I’ll be explaining why later). I have experimented with many houseplant composts, and I have to say that I don’t particularly get on with any of them (no surprise there, I hear you say). Most composts, straight out of the bag, I find much too heavy and water retentive for most houseplants. The main reason for this is that most tropical plants that we grow in our homes are adapted to what, for want of a better word, we might call ‘woodsy’ soil. Most of our houseplants are well adapted to low light situations, and those conditions are typically found in forests where the trees provide shade from the sun, and our beloved houseplants (I really dislike that word) are understorey plants (or occasionally epiphytes as is usually the case with orchids). They grow mostly in the detritus of the forest floor, so leaf litter, decomposing wood, etc.

I have found a few houseplant composts that have an amount (sometimes a large amount) of loam. I don’t disagree with this in principle but it tends to be unsuitable for many houseplants as it doesn’t replicate the conditions the plants naturally grow in. Loamy compost is heavy, often water retentive (the sand particles knit together making the mix very dense). for plants that naturally grow in loamy soil (such as our native plants), this is no problem, but tropical understorey plants need much more air around their roots, as well as moisture, for them to truly thrive.

Again, many of the problems associated with so called houseplant composts comes down to how they are treated before purchase. They typically arrive at the garden centre on a pallet along with the outdoor plant composts and are also often kept outside with them. As I have mentioned before, I firmly believe that no compost should be kept outside to become saturated by the rain and houseplant compost is no exception. I don’t see that it would be impertinent to ask before purchase where the compost has come from and how it has been stored. We surely all want the best for our plants; how are we to provide this if we are being sold products that have not been treated properly?

The advantage to using a proprietary mix is that it is sold in small bags (typically 10 liters) which makes them easy to carry. Also, very few people have enough houseplants (naturally I exclude myself from this generalisation) to warrant buying large quantities.

There are even more specialist composts on the market (such as for Streptocarpus, Citrus, Cacti, Bonsai, etc) but I mostly have not experimented with them as I don’t grow these plants (and many of them are terrestrials or trees and are better adapted to loamy soils, so the above doesn’t apply to them), so I won’t discuss them here.

From my experience, the single most important factor in growing healthy houseplants is aerated mix. This is not the same as placing crocks at the bottom of a pot, which has no effect other than removing space in the pot that could otherwise be taken up with growing medium and roots. In a poorly aerated mix, the roots can only really function in those areas of the pot that receive sufficient air; i.e. the sides, the top and possibly the bottom. This severely restricts the amount of root volume the plant will have and its general health. When you add to this the excessive water and compaction present in many pots, it is no wonder many houseplants do not thrive. A properly aerated mix allows the roots they entire volume of the pot to expand into, allowing the plant to reach its true potential.

So how do we achieve this? It’s easy. As I’ve stated earlier, I use the same mix for all of my houseplants. One third, or slightly more, of my potting mix (notice I’ve stopped using the word ‘compost’ because it is very misleading) is bog standard multi purpose compost from the garden centre (doesn’t seem to matter at all which brand, so you can go for a peat free option if you wished to). I like to keep a bag indoors so I can mix my potting medium fresh whenever I need any. This way it is always warm and fairly dry so it doesn’t compost down and doesn’t attract flies. Another third of my potting mix is fine bark chippings (Melcourt’s orchid propagating bark). If you can’t get hold of this, you can use a garden centre orchid compost, it will do roughly the same job. Now this is where it gets a little tricky because the final third of my potting mix is chipped scrap plastic. I have an ample supply of this as it is a waste product from my workplace, and would otherwise end up in landfill. I like to use this as it is nice and light and seems to provide good aeration. I’m well aware that this isn’t a product that can be easily obtained elsewhere, but don’t panic, you can replace this with coarse grit. I used to use grit, but it seemed senseless to pay for a product when I could replace it with something I can get for nothing.

Having said that tropical plants need a ‘woodsy’ potting mix, it would be a mistake to provide them with a 100% organic mix. If I used an altogether organic mix, I would achieve good results in the short term, but as the mix started to decompose it would compact and the aeration would diminish, eventually choking the roots. With the best will in the world, no potting mix is going to last forever, but we can take easy steps to keep it in good condition for as long as possible. Decomposed mix is only a problem if it is compacted and aeration is lost. By having what might be considered a relatively large percentage of inorganic material, we keep that aeration. Remember that two thirds of this mix is quite large particles, as another third is bark chips. This will keep the the mix aerated for quite some time. Remember also that this mix will not stay so wet as many so decomposition will be much slower. If the mix remains fresh for longer, this means that our plants will need repotting much less frequently (apart from when they outgrow their containers).

I usually include a handful of slow release fertilizer to my potting mix too, just to give the plants a headstart, but it isn’t essential. I’ll tackle feeding in another article.

Bloom Event - Phragmipedium silver rose 'pick n mix' x schlimii

I don't grow an awful lot of slipper orchids. Having said that, there will be another post in the coming days. I got this beauty from Ratcliffes Orchids (who I hear are closing down, which is a terrible shame) at a show about a year ago. Being a Phragmipedium, this enjoys rather wet conditions, so I grow it in Rockwool cubes. Rockwool is basically glass fibre spun out to the consistency of candy floss (OK, OK, excuse the hyperbole) and cut up into cubes. It has the virtue of holding a LOT of water and air and never breaking down. Phragmipedium are generally not difficult to grow. I suspect that this particular hybrid (due to the amount of P. Besseae in its backgrownd) could do with being grown rather cooler than I can manage. Maybe I'll put it in the cattleya room which is usually a little cooler than the main growroom. 

The flowers on this hybrid are actually rather small and are borne once at a time sequentially from the top of the flower spike. The flowers drop without warning in perfect condition just as the next bud begins to open. I seem to get four or five flowers per spike. As you can see, they are an attractive colour and texture, and have the terrific bonus of being very fragrant. I have grown to never expect any scent from a slipper orchid. It took me ages to work out where the smell was coming from. One flower can be smelled from across the room at certain times of the day. A friend tells me this trait comes from P. schlimii.

This plant does have its negatives, though. Along with several superficially gorgeous hybrids involving P. besseae, this plant has a very annoying tenancy to produce new growth from a rather long piece of rhizome. This in itself wouldn't be a problem except that it insists on growing vertically upwards rather than along the surface of the growing medium. This means that it is very difficult to keep the base of new growths in contact with the growing medium and if you don't, they won't produce new roots. Cue frequent repotting. This would explain why we don't see these plants nicely clumped up with several flower spikes at once.

I should explain that the growth habit in Phragmipedium is at least superficially similar to that of the more commonly grown slipper orchid, Paphiopedilum. A fan of leaves is produced, which produces a flower spike bearing one or several sequential or simultaneous opening blooms. The fan then gradually sends its energy into new growth and eventually dies. It is actually no different to other sympodial orchids (most of them, don't ask), except that no pseudobulbs are produced. Usually new growth or growths are produced directly from the base of the existing fan of leaves, producing an attractive clump of foliage, but some species produce a length of rhizome first so the new fan is produced at a distance from the mother plant. "Why are these plants used in hybrids?" I hear you ask. Mostly, they have superior flowers in some way or another, or they might be good growers or strong rooters. Hybridizers can often breed these undesirable traits out. Sometimes they can't. In this case, since P. schlimii usually behaves itself, I hold P. besseae responsible.

Hippeastrum bloom event - Intermezzo

Here I present Hippeastrum 'Intermezzo'. I really like this hybrid, even though I'm not usually a fan of what I call 'wishy washy' colours. Other people may call them 'pastel' shades. However, there are points in its favour. Sadly my photography skills are somewhat to be desired but then this isn't about photography, is it? Had I taken a better photo, you would see that this is a very nice trumpet variety. Trumpet varieties are rather thin on the ground so I get them whenever I see them. They have wonderful stately elegant blooms that remind me even more strongly of lilies than most Hippeastrum do. The blooms are long and flared out at the end rather than opening quite flat. when I got this variety, I wasn't aware it was a trumpet variety (the vendor's photography obviously too fantastic, either!). I was also expecting a darker flower, I'm not sure why. The main point in this variety's favour is that it is scented. Any grower of garden centre bought Hippeastrum will tell you that they tend not to be scented, or very lightly at best. While I can't call this highly fragrant, it is very pleasant to smell (even if you do have to stick your nose in it to smell it properly). Seems a good grower and reliable bloomer, too. Enjoy!

Bloom event - Vanda princess mikasa white

You have to hand it to this Vanda, its a toughie. Very vigorous grower (for a Vanda), pot full of roots right to the bottom. It blooms at least twice a year (more often than most of my Phalaenopsis). It's just a shame that the white isn't, well, whiter. 

Bloom event - Oncidium katrin zoch

Oncidium Katrin Zoch is one of those orchids that I just can't quite understand. It grows (after a fashion). It blooms. And repeat. It just never seems to really grow well or reach the proportions you see them at in garden centres. I'd love to know how those Dutch growers do it (this and several other genera I can't grow for toffee). Having said that, this plant has done well recently, and beggars can't be choosers, can they? It has produced probably 20 flowers on a branched spike, and has put on an attractive show. It is originally one of Ray Creek's infamous plug plants, and I have had it a few years now. Sadly it doesn't seem one for 'clumping up' (producing more than one lead), although it often produces more than one spike per pseudobulb, though never at the same time. It is definitely a keeper though, as it has the most amazing scent, sort of like white chocolate with a bit of vanilla. And its a pretty colour. I shouldn't whinge so much about it really, should I?