New Plants - More Coelogyne

I know. I'm obsessed with Coelogyne. A friend of mine has managed to rescue some nice coelogyne species and hybrids and was kind enough to let me have a few plants to add to my collection. He warned me they weren't in the best of conditions when he got them, but that they should recover themselves given time. The first of these is Coelogyne burfordiense. This is a hybrid between C. pandurata and C. asperata so as you can imagine it is a large plant. My plant is basically a collection of potted backbulbs which are now showing signs of growth.

As well as one decent sized shoot heading off to the side, there are two smaller shoots emerging from other bulbs which have definitely appeared since I got the plant. There are signs of rot on a couple of the bulbs which I will keep a very close eye on. I will have to de-pot this to see what is going on under the surface as there are a lot of fungus gnats buzzing around this plant, and that is not usually a good sign.

I was also given two Coelogyne speciosa. I know what you're thinking - I have two plants of this species already, one the regular colour form and the other 'Burnham' (used to be known as var. salmonicolor). The new additions are a dark form and an as yet unknown one. I'll find out when it flowers.

Both of these are showing promising signs of growth now. One has a new shoot emerging, the other a nice crop of new roots, so they should be back to full health before too long. I can't wait to see flowers, especially on the mystery plant!

Bloom Event - Coelogyne ovalis 'Burnham' and Coelogyne triplicatula

One of the things I love about growing Coelogyne species and hybrids is that there are one or two in flower at all times of the year, and many plants will bloom more than one a year, as well as many being sequential bloomers. The two I'm showing today are quite closely related and are part of the coelogyne fimbriata complex. Some authorities want to lump all species such as C. ovalis, C. fuliginosa and C. triplicatuala in with C. fimbriata to make a species complex. For myself, I would prefer to keep the species separate as there are big enough differences between them to merit this. Both of the plants I'm discussing today are significantly bigger than C. fimbriata (my plant at least), both in terms of flower size and the overall size of the plant.

Above is Coelogyne triplicatula. Apparently the name triplicatula refers to the three keels on the lip, although this is pretty unhelpful since many Coelogyne have three keels on the lip. The lip is darker than it appears on the photo and gives a nice contrast to the rest of the flower. I know the colouring is fairly dowdy, as is the case with many Coelogyne, but the shape and patterning of the lip more than make up for this in my opinion. The flower is smaller than many of the Coelogyne I grow, but is still a decent enough size. Flowers are produced sequentially so the flowering period is extended, much like C. speciosa.

I got this from a friend a few months ago in an exchange and it has done pretty well. It is usually grown in cool conditions but seems to grow and flower OK in my warm growroom. As you may be able to see, it put out three growths but sadly two have damped off and only one has produced a flower spike. In time this will become a sprawling species, and I'm hoping it will produce multiple leads and fill out a bit.

Above is Coelogyne ovalis 'burnham'. The flower is a very pleasing shape, size and colour, hence the varietal name. Leaves are broader than triplicatula, but otherwise the plants are broadly similar. This plant came from Burnham Nurseries. Not sure what I was thinking when I got it as it is also, according to them, a cool grower though once again, it does fine under my warm conditions.

This one only produced two new shoots, but both have gone on to produce flower buds. Unfortunately, this plant sits at the front of the bench and I must have leaned on the flower spike at some point while watering as the tip of the spike has blasted. Luckily, there is a second spike on the way from the other growth. This species has a reputation for being very vigorous and I'm hoping it will fill out nicely and produce lots of new growths in future to make a nice bushy plant.

Speaking of the above plant exchange, I decided to tackle one of the other plants I got today, Stanhopea nigroviolacea. It crossed my mind when I got it that I'd eventually have to do something, and it was on my list much earlier than this. However, it produced a massive amount of new roots almost as soon as I got it and then put out a load of new shoots and I didn't want to disturb it when it seemed so happy. Of course, rather than behaving itself and growing at the top of the basket, some of the new growths decided it would be a good idea to grow out of the side.

We grow Stanhopea in open baskets like this because the flower spikes are pendent, by which I mean the flower spikes penetrate the growing medium and exit the bottom of the basket. Naturally if they are grown in plastic pots they can't get through. Obviously I wasn't going to get the plant out of the basket and manage to keep both of them in one piece which is a shame, as I like to re-use materials where I can. In the end I cut the basket apart to release the root ball. I had to leave some fragments of it in places but it won't cause any harm. I have put the plant, carefully angled, in a twelve inch basket filled with a mix of sphagnum moss and medium bark. I have used a coir liner so that the flower spikes can penetrate (hopeful, I know!)

Looks quite at home already, doesn't it? I realize the basket is quite big, but this plant seems to grow very quickly when it has a mind to, so I imagine it won't be long before even this basket is full. It put out five large new growths this year, as well as two small ones from the back of the plant, and the new growths are just starting to produce roots, so it should establish nice and fast. It essentially hasn't been disturbed at all as the existing roots looked healthy so I didn't remove any of the old potting medium. Seemed no sense in arresting its growth now.

Bloom Event - Miltonia clowesii

I know I've been a bit quiet on here for a couple of weeks. There hasn't been a lot to report, really. Most orchid growers will tell you that summer is a definite dry spell for blooming orchids, and my collection is no exception. That's not to say its completely barren and there are a few in the pipeline, but they aren't queueing up as they do at other times of the year.

So I am doubly thankful that the Miltonia species have decided to grace me with their flowers at this time. I posted about Miltonia spectabilis var. moreliana at the weekend, so now the focus moves to Miltonia clowesii. My plant is still very young (I got it from the Quinta da Boa Vista Garden on Madeira back in February), and I know it can reach quite a size when it is all grown up, but it has still put out a flower spike for me bearing four flowers, one of which is now fully open. I'm quite surprised that it has decided to bloom, at least partly because it is usually cited as a cool grower. This species seems quite adaptable to warmer conditions, as is often the case with the many species that either have a wide geographical range or occur at a range of elevations.

My plant is growing in the 9cm pot that I originally put it in back in February. Once new growth starts again, I will put it in a wider, shallower pot as this is another shallow rooted scrambling species although it is better behaved than its cousin, Miltonia spectabilis. Miltonia clowesii, along with many of the other Brazilian Miltonia species, appreciates being growin in bright light, as bright as that for Cattleya. Under these conditions the plants tend to take on a yellowish cast which would normally be a warning sign but for Miltonia this simply means they are getting the correct amount of light. Lower light results in lovely green foliage but no flowers. Even moisture is essential at all times, and the plant does not like to dry out.

The picture shows quite nicely the yellowish colour. It is good to know that my lighting system is sufficient to both bloom Vandas and Cattleyas, and to turn my Miltonia a healthy (unhealthy looking) colour. All this without burning any foliage. Under natural light, it can be very difficult to give plants enough light without burning them which is why a lot of growers either have lovely healthy looking lush green plants that don't bloom well or tatty yellowed and wrinkled half dead looking plants that look ugly but bloom brilliantly. The true skill in growing orchids lies in striking a balance between good looking plants and decent flowering.

The thin foliage on Miltonia can often be a target for bugs such as red spider mite, and the yellowish foliage can easily mask such damage. Maintaining high levels of humidity and having strong air movement over the plants helps to discourage them, and the regular sprayings of soap solution kill off any strays that do make it to the plants.

Such a beautiful flower. I really like the contrast between the petals and the lip. As an added bonus, there is a sweet scent. It's not a room-filliing scent, but very pleasant indeed. This seems a nice form of the species and I am proud to have it in my collection. I will genuinely look forward to seeing it bloom to its full potential. It just goes to show that many easy growing and very beautiful orchids are totally overlooked by the horticultural industry, and this is a classic example.

Bloom Event - Miltonia spectabilis var. moreliana

Miltonia spectabilis is a truly lovely species when in flower, but is definitely not grown by enough people. There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is that the whole genus Miltonia is overshadowed by the practically impossible to grow and ubiquitous Miltoniopsis. Secondly, the plants tend to be a bit untidy and are difficult to contain in a pot for any reasonable length of time due to the plants growth habit.

There is a little confusion over the whole Miltonia spectabilis complex, and some authorities now consider Miltonia spectabilis var. Moreliana to be a species in its own right, M. moreliana. I grow both, and there do seem to be differences between the two. For example, var. moreliana blooms a little earlier, and the regular form (at least my plant) seems to often have two flowers per inflorescence, as well as much longer internodes. Whether these are big enough differences to give M. moreliana species status in its own right is for the taxonomists to decide. For the time being, I will continue with the old name until I am told otherwise for definite.

I’m pleased to say that Miltonia spectabilis var. moreliana is much better behaved than the regular form of the species.The shorter internodes mean the plant is much better suited to pot culture. They are still on the long side, but much more manageable. It grows in my warm growroom with most of my other orchids, with temperatures in the upper twenties in the day and in the mid to upper teens at night. It seems a very tolerant species, and I have grown and flowered it quite a bit cooler than this, though not for several years. As is typical with Miltonia species, it is quite shallow rooted and there is no point at all in growing it in anything other than a broad shallow container. It is also fine rooted, but I generally advise against using too fine a potting material and my plant seems fine in medium bark chips with regular watering. Regular repotting is necessary because the plant has quite a gap between pseudobulbs and quite quickly reaches the edges of its container. Luckily it doesn't resent disturbance at all. It has a pleasing habit of frequently ‘breaking double’ and regularly produces two growths from its leading pseudobulb meaning plants can either be fairly frequently divided or will quickly grow into a nice specimen. A favourite trick of mine is to leave the plant in its pot and make a back cut a few pseudobulbs back on the rhizome to force the plant to make new growth toward the back where there is often no leaves or flowers.

The blooms are borne on single-flowered inflorescences as the new growths mature. Spikes appear to be quite slow to develop, but at least the blooms are long lasting when they finally open. I'd never noticed before, but the flowers are delicately perfumed. The colour is a truly wonderful deep shade of Amethyst purple with a slightly lighter lip delicately marked with darker veining. Just stunning. Of course, purple is my favourite colour, so I would be biased. I prefer both varieties of the species to all of the hybrids using this species because although it passes on the lovely purple colour, it also passes on the low flower count and the hybrid flowers tend to be clustered and crowded at the end of the spikes making the flower spikes rather untidy.

I can heartily recommend this species to anyone who can provide a bit of heat and humidity but this is a plant that will probably perform perfectly well as a houseplant.

Bloom Event - Cymbidium chloranthum

I've never been a big grower of Cymbidium because I've never had a cool greenhouse to keep them in. Don't get me wrong, I love them.  Sadly, all Cymbidium you see for sale in garden centres are cool growers and don't even make particularly good houseplants, partly because many of them are simply too big and unweildy to accommodate and secondly because they don't do well modern centrally heated houses where the temperature is too high, the humidity is not high enough and the light levels are too low. They grow OK (ish), but its hard to get them to flower. A lot of growers put them outside for the summer to give them the cool nights they need to bloom, but I have never had good success with this. Either they get sunburn, blown around by the wind, or they pick up every pest under the sun. And after all that, if they are bought in when they are in spike, quite often buds will drop off in response to the change in conditions.

So, I was condemned to enjoying these beautiful flowers vicariously. However, it turns out that not all Cymbidum were born equal. Some of them come from lower elevations and warmer countries and positively thrive in tropical conditions. Cymbidium chloranthum is one, although there are quite a few others. The flower is not so dazzlingly beautiful as some of its cooler growing cousins. This is at least partly because they haven't been hybridized so much (and there aren't many Cymbidum growers in the UK; it seems to be an Australian thing).

It's a daintly little thing. The flowers remind me rather of some of the Maxillaria species (they are vaguely related) with the lateral petals thrust forward. I particularly like the red and yellow markings on the lip. The flower spike is roughly the same height as the leaves. I read elsewhere that the flowers carry no perfume but I think there is a faint scent. Vegetatively, the plant resembles any other Cymbidium (a good deal smaller than most, but not what you'd call a small plant compared to other orchids) with stout pseudobulbs completely encased by leaf sheaths and sword shaped stiff leaves on top.

I got the plant from Orchid Botanics (link to the right) at the same show at which I purchased Coelogyne salvaneraniana as a flowering size plant and now it is at the right stage of its growth cycle it has put up a spike. I was very pleased to see flower buds as my experience with other Cymbidium has rather put me off them. I'm very glad I got this plant though, as it seems like it needs no particular cajolement to bloom. There seem to be a decent amount of blooms for the size of the plant, and one with multiple spikes (or this one in a couple of years) will be quite an impressive sight.

Once it has bloomed, I will probably re-pot this as it is quite close to the edge of the pot (furthest away in this photo) and Cymbidium are known for their rather robust root systems. Also I haven't had this plant out of its pot and examined the roots since I got it so I imagine the potting medium will need to be changed. All in all, an inspired purchas, I think.

On to an unrelated matter.  I have set up a Facebook page for Kev's Orchids where I will be (indeed, I already am) posting more day-to-day stuff such as emerging flower spikes, new growth, etc as it isn't so easy to get that stuff onto the blog while keeping it coherent. I really do encourage you to check it out and hopefully give me a 'like' to keep yourself up to date with whats going in in that growroom. I will try to get a link to it on the front page, too (that'll be fun).

Bloom Event - Coelogyne celebensis and Dendrochilum latifolium

Here I go again with my Coelogyne obsession. I got this plant from Schwerter Orchids in Germany earlier in the year, and it is now blessing me with flowers. I think I recall that when I got the plant there were three new growths coming up. All three of them produced a flower spike, but the first spike got damaged (grower clumsiness) it turns out they are very delicate when they are first emerging. The second spike is now in flower and there is another behind that. The plant seems very robust, though it does not grow quickly.

The flower is superficially reminiscent of C. speciosa with a distinctly insect like appearance. However, the spike is more erect and the flower doesn't nod so much so its easier to see into it. There is a delicate and quite pleasant fragrance. Flowers are produced sequentially and appear fairly long lasting so flowering period should be long.

The thin petals are well reflexed and point backward. The whole flower is much greener than the photos suggest and I find the colour combination and lip detail very pleasing indeed.

As you can see, the plant is very much like a smaller sized C. speciosa. Its sort of daintier. You may also notice if you clicked the link to read the post from February when this arrived that it has been repotted since then. Notice also that there are lots of new roots already in the new pot. Even if there isn't much top growth I like to see the roots doing something, hence I'm pleased with this plant. It Hopefully it will continue to throw multiple growths and will become a nice dense clump with plenty of flowers in future.

Also in flower is Dendrochilum latifolium. To my eye at least, it is superficially similar to D. magnum  but taller and slimmer. The leaves are longer but narrower and the flower spikes a bit taller.

The flowers are a nice shade of yellow and carry a pleasing and slightly spicy fragrance.  I only got one flower spike off four new growths, but as it is the first blooming for me I guess I should excercise patience and wait for it to settle in properly.

Notice the flowers arranged in two ranks in a loose spiral round the stem, and also the very prominent floral bracts. A very elegant species indeed. Flowers last a fair amount of time (maybe three weeks) and remain in good condition until they fade (you know how some flowers look tatty long before they fall from the plant).

Bloom Event - Big Giant Vanda

Its taken me ages to get around to writing about this Vanda. It was given to me a few years ago, along with a few other bits and pieces. Unbelievably, it doesn't have a name. It is quite different from the other big blue Vanda I grow, with flatter flowers, and the V. coerulea trait of lateral petals twisting to the horizontal being almost entirely absent from this plant. It was quite a big plant when it was given to me at a couple of feet tall, but it has almost doubled in size since then. I know exactly how much it has grown since I got it because not long after it entered my care I had a bit of a scare that it had got crown rot. It hadn't, but the leaves that were emerging from the crown at that time were damaged, and they are still present.

The blue colour and the tessellations are both outstanding. This one is much bluer than V. blue magic, although the flowers are marginally smaller. They are more than made up for in quantity, though, with this spike bearing 14 flowers. There would have been more, but the tip blasted, probably because it is quite windy at the top of the room it grows in. Still, its an impressive show, and I think there would have only been one extra flower if it hadn't.

Yes, I know it would have made a better photo against a black background as I do for more normal sized orchids, but this one was just too awkward. Still, you get the general idea. I've thought before that a decent photo of this in full bloom would make a nice base for a tattoo design. It is quite rare to see Vanda this sort of size, so I'm quite proud of this plant although I have to say that some of my other Vanda are growing quite quickly, too.  Vanda do have a (not entirely unfounded) reputation of being difficult to grow, and I have had rather mixed experiences with them in the past. I think I have it fairly sussed now, though. The first point to bear in mind is that Vanda like warm temperatures (yes, even hybrids of the cooler growing V. coerulea), and bright light all year round. This is obviously a problem for UK growers in winter, and the plants respond to this by going into semi-dormancy. They stop producing new leaves and the root tips cover over with velamen. This needn't cause too many problems provided watering is reduced accordingly but it is hard to balance plants being kept dry enough to prevent root rot and damp enough to stop them drying out (which they also don't like).

You can see the plant clearly doesn't mind being grown in a pot (which is starting to look decidedly small for the size of the plant). You can also just about see the couple of shorter leaves about halfway up the plant that show how big it was when I got it. Vanda grow quicker than you might imagine. I definitely think the key to getting them performing properly is keeping them growing through the winter, which means growing under lights in the UK. They certainly bloom much more often that way. I have far less Vanda than I used to, but there is nearly always a couple in bloom, summer or winter.

The other thing to not about Vanda is that once they are upset, it takes them ages to settle down again, and many plants are lost during this time. The key is definitely even conditions. Remember they come from areas that don't have seasons as we do, so they don't respond well to variations in temperature and light. I find that they will take quite a lot of water while they are growing, but are very intolerant of wet conditions. Pond pots seem to work well, but I struggle to find them the right shape to grow anything bigger than a modest sized plant.

Bloom Event - Coelogyne speciosa

I am very attached to this species, and I have two colour forms of it (and counting, with any luck). It is one of the largest flowers in the genus and an easy grower to boot. The pseudobulbs are nicely clustered on the rhizome and it seems willing to produce multiple new shoots, so a specimen plant is produced relatively quickly. This species has been used extensively in hybridising, and some very nice hybrids indeed have been produced, several of which are featured elsewhere on this blog.

Notice that the flowers face downwards. This is because in the plant's native habitat there is heavy rainfall and the flower points downwards to prevent the pollinia being washed onto the stigma. In other words, it stops self-pollination. Quite a nifty trick. Sadly, this droopy flowered habit does pass on to the hybrids, although not quite so strongly. I grow this plant warm, as do most growers, but it will tolerate cooler temperatures quite well, probably because it grows at a range of elevations in nature. My plant has quite short flower stems, with blooms held just above the newly developing foliage, but some forms of the species have much longer flower stems which hang below the basket. My form works well for pot culture.

At the moment I have three growing points, two of which are flowering at the moment. The third is a few weeks behind these two and will hopefully bloom in due course. Large plants of this species can become perpetually blooming with new spikes starting to open blooms before old spikes have finished. Flowers are produced in sequence, with the new one opening as the old one drops. Individual flowers last for about 2 or three weeks, and they carry a (thankfully) faint fragrance. I am still in two minds whether to do a couple of crafty back-cuts to encourage more growth points or whether to leave it as it is (aside from the inevitable re-pot once its finished flowering) and allow it to grow. This species seems more willing to 'break double' (produce more than one shoot per growth) than many orchids are, so it might form an impressive clump on its own without any help from me.

If anyone has a green flowered form of this species they'd be willing to part with a division of, contact me immediately! flower colour ranges from tan (as above) to green; most of the variation is in the lip, which may have very light tan markings, right through to almost black (a good form to cross with C. usitana = C. lyme bay), or even orange. 

Along with many other coelogyne, this species seems to like a lot of water, hence it needs frequent re-potting. Once it has done flowering, it will have to be done again as it has reached the edges of the pond pot on both sides. Maybe a basket is in order this time.

Bloom Event - Coelogyne G Beryl Read

When I see random Coelogyne hybrids for sale, I buy them (if I'm not growing them already, of course). This particular one is a hybrid between C. salmonicolor (the plant I have labelled as C. speciosa 'burnham') and C. mooreana 'westonbirt', and is a relatively new hybrid, being registered in 2008. These speciosa hybrids are made of tough stuff, and C. mooreana is no weakling either. With both warm and cool growing parents, hybrids like this one are very tolerant of warm or cool conditions and it seems an easy, if not fast, grower. It seems to have got the right traits from the right parents; upright spikes from C. speciosa and the lovely white flowers from C. mooreana. I suppose I should call the blooms semi-sequential, meaning there are usually 2 or 3 open at any one time, with buds still being produced at the tip.

As you can see, the blooms are a nice clear colour and more white than some of the hybrids which definitely tend towards the ivory. I don't think much to the scent on this one, but at least it has one. I will say that the flowers seem to be bigger during winter bloomings, so maybe they are better on the slightly cooler side, but their growth is not affected by warm temperatures at all.

flowers are produced from the centre of the new growth while it is still quite young, so the emerging leaves don't get in the way of the flowers. This hybrid seems to not get too big (think back to the large size of C. mem. Louis forget or William Micholitz). It also doesn't seem too inclined to make more than one new growth at a time but, as an seasoned professional, I have methods of forcing the issue. Its not so cruel as it sounds. All I mean is that I have made what I call a 'back cut'. All you do is, provided your plant is large enough, count three or four pseudobulbs back from the lead growth and sever the rhizome. The back of the plant will usually (but not always) produce a new growth. This works well for some genera, but not at all for others, so do your homework before going crazy with the secateurs. I have found it an excellent way of bulking up Cattleya (which, at least for me, don't seem inclined to produce multiple growths), but it won't work on quite a lot of Oncidium alliance plants. Keep the divisions of a decent size so the plants have the strength to bloom quickly. The two divisons can then be left together to produce a specimen size plant more quickly or they can be separated to produce two plants.

You can't see the new growth on the above photo, its still small and below the level of the bark (each new pseudobulb is marginally higher than the proceeding one, so each time we repot the older pseudobulbs get gradually buried), but you can see the overall proportions of the plant. Its in a 12cm pot. I look forward to seeing it with more new growths blooming in the future.